An Assassin's Story
by Same-tan
Summary: Being an assassin makes your life complicated. Being in a relationship with Xanxus even more so. Being persecuted by your own family makes for a complicated life, too. Welcome to the life of Cassandra Janson. It's complicated and dangerous, but will it all work out?
1. A hell called Family

So guys...my first stroy in English ^_^""

English is not my native language, so there might be errors in here. Feel free to tell me ^^

R&R =)

**An ****Assassin's**** Story**

"Do I have to? "

Annoyed to no end, Cassandra looked at her uncle. He was a tall, blonde man, towering at about 2 meters. She had barely reached 1.70 meters, thus being the smallest in all of her family. Hell, even her younger sister was taller than her.

"You have to. "

He said in a voice that allowed no complaints.

"But I still have to learn for my final exam tomorrow. "

Appalled by such indifference towards her normal life, she completely ignored the fact that her uncle was the boss of the most powerful Mafia crime family in all of northern Europe and that she was just a lowly assassin. It didn't matter that she didn't start working as an assassin for his sake in the first place.

"You should have thought about that before you started as an assassin. "

Her uncle said, looking at and signing some papers.

"Then I want more money for that mission."

Cassandra knew it was brash for her to ask for that. Especially since her uncle let her stay at his manor even though she was already of age.

"Pardon? "

"I know you heard that all too well. I want more money. I'm not one of your personal assassins, so you'll have to pay in order for me to kill people for you."

"Cassandra Janson – "

"Don't give me that sermon about family and shit again, Berwald."

She called her uncle by his first name on purpose. As long as she could remember, she hadn't liked him and by the age of 12 she had vowed to herself to never call him "uncle" ever again.

"Cassandra-"Her uncle started, but she cut him off again.

"This is no family helps family thing. I'm not part of your family and you know that very well. I'm just staying at your place, that's all that connects us aside from some shared DNA. So this is definitely no family thing. This is all business, buddy."

"God, you really want to get your A-levels."

"Do you think I intend to stay with you any longer? The better the degree, the better the jobs. "

And with that she left her uncle, but not without letting the folder with the mission papers drop to the floor first. She was so done with her "family". Ever since the day her father passed away, her uncle had treated her worse than anything else. Just because she was born with the wrong flame type. In her family there was no place for people with the sky attribute. Storm, Thunder, Sun, Cloud, Mist and Rain were acceptable, but Sky? No way! There was no use in someone who accepted everybody else.

Sulkily, Cassandra let herself drop into her chair. Time to learn some more Algebra, in order to get away from that hell of a family.

She awoke to the ringing of her phone. It was well past midnight and Cassandra wondered who would call her at such an ungodly hour.

"Cassey speaking."She mumbled into the phone, barely awake.

"Did I wake you up? "All of a sudden Cassandra was wide awake.

"Xanxus!"She sat up with a jolt.

"I just wanted to make sure you went to bed on time."

"Calling me in the middle of the night is a kinda strange way of doing so."She stood up from her desk and wandered over to her bed.

"You don't sound like you're in bed, Cassey."

"I'm on my way to bed. How do you know how I sound when I'm in my bed?"She changed into her sleeping shirt.

In fact it was a white dress shirt she had "accidentally" put into her bag, last time she visited Xanxus.

"I just know. By the way, do you know where one of my shirts has gone? I'm missing one lately."Damn it. Cassandra knew he was just acting innocent.

Her silence was all the evidence he needed.

"So you took it with you. Bet your wearing it right now."She could practically hear him smirk over the phone.

"Am not!"Cassandra tried hard not to blush, but failed miserably.

"Are so."

"Am not."

"Whatever. You should go to sleep now. I'll call again tomorrow."

"All right."

"Rest well and good luck for your exam. "

"Same for you...well, except for the exam stuff."

She heard him laugh and couldn't help but smile, as she slid under the covers, the telephone still clutched in her hand.

"And remember, just 2 more weeks, until I pick you up."

And with that he hung up.

"Yeah, just two more weeks. "She thought, as she drifted off to sleep.


	2. Family is just a word

The next morning she woke up earlier than planned, so she decided to eat breakfast before the rest or her family had even opened an eye. But somehow God interfered with her plan because when she entered the dining room, her cousin was already up, happily sipping on her diet drink. Cassandra didn't like her cousin. She was a pesky, obnoxious shopaholic who had the tendency to piss Cassandra off by just breathing.

"My my, Cassey."Vanessa, that's what her cousin was called, looked at Cassandra as though the latter had just farted in public.

"What?"Cassandra was already annoyed, but tried to be polite anyway.

"Your hair." Vanessa scrunched her nose up, giving Cassandra the impression of a very ugly pug.

"What's wrong with it?"

"It looks so scraggy. Like a bird tried to build its nest in it."

"I don't see your problem, Nessy."

"You should lose some weight too."

Just to make this clear: Cassandra wasn't fat and she wasn't even close to chubby. To be true, she was rather skinny, petit and delicate.

"That's none of your business."Cassandra said as she left the table.

She'd just decided to take her breakfast to her room. Back at said room, she looked at herself in the mirror that hung next to her dresser. She really couldn't see her cousin's problem. Okay, her blonde locks were a tangled mess, but to hell with that! She slumped down in her old armchair, eating her cereals and going over some notes for the umpteenth time. Damn, she really was no good at Algebra and Maths in general, but she had to get through that exam anyway. It was the last one she had to take, after that, school would be over and in about 2 weeks she'd finally graduate officially. A soft tune that came from her alarm clock reminded her, that it was time for her to leave and thus Cassandra grabbed her bag and carried the empty bowl and cup back down to the kitchen, where the chefs and maids were busy preparing breakfast for the rest of her family. Even though she tried to get in and out unnoticed, Magdalena, an old woman with grey hair and gentle, warm eyes, noticed her anyway.

"Cassandra! Wait you silly girl! "The addressed stopped in the doorway, waiting for the old woman to come up to her.

"We all wanted to wish you good luck for your exam, but, you see, everyone's busy, so I'll have to speak for all of us."

Magdalena cleared her throat.

"Show them what you're made of, will you?"She gently patted Cassandra on the head.

"Thank you, Magda."Cassandra said "And thank you everyone!"She added at the top of her lungs to drown the clanging of pans and pots out.

At school she was greeted by some of her friends. Well..., "friends" would probably be exaggerated. They were more like good acquaintances than real friends, so it was no surprise, that they didn't know she was actually part of the Mafia. To be honest, most of them believed that the Mafia was an Italy-exclusive thing.

Sometimes Cassandra caught herself being jealous of them or wishing she could lead a normal, carefree life, just like they obviously did. After some chit-chat the teacher called out her name. Her turn to stand through that exam, but first of all, she had to hand her mobile over. No contact to the outside allowed. They gave her half an hour to prepare the answers for the questions, after that the presentation in front of a bunch of teachers, the headmaster and some people of the government started. One good thing that came from her job as an assassin: She stayed calm, collected and focused even in the most awkward situations, so even though the people present looked as if they were about to devour her, she had no problem explaining her solution to them.

* * *

So...chapter 2 is finished.

Raven: You wanted to put some short describtions of the characters in here!

Oh...yeah...

**Cassandra "Cassey" Janson:**_ She's 20 years old, lives in the very north of Germany and works as an assassin since she was 14. She has long, blonde locks and is the smallest in all of her family (she's about 1.70 meters). She is fluent in many languages, including Russian,Italian, German, Swedish, Danish, Japanese, English, Spanish and French. Cassandra spent some years abroad (2 years in Italy, 2 years in Japan and 2 years in Russia), because her uncle wanted her "out of the way". She's been together with Xanxus for 1 year._

_Her flame attribute is sky.  
_

**Berwald Janson: **_He's 49 years old, lives in the very north of Germany. boss of the Janson Family and the older brother of Cassandra's father, thus making him her uncle. He is very tall (2 meters) and has short, blonde hair, that he's wearing slicked back most of the time. He has a beard and wears glasses. Like most of the family he doesn't hold Cassey in high regards and actually he hates her just as much as she hates him._

_His flame attribute is storm._

**Vanessa Janson:**_ She's 22 years old and lives with her father (Berwald), Cassey and Cassey's sister in the Janson manor. She has very long, straight hair. Nessy usually dresses in the latest fashion and her hobbies include shopping, shopping and shopping. To be honest, she's actually beautiful but she sadly lacks the brain. She's very superficial._

_Even though she doesn't fight (her nails could be damaged or her clothes could be ruined *le gasp*) she has a real flame type: Storm._

**Magdalena a.k.a Magda:** _She used to look after Cassey, her sister and her cousins when Cassey's father was still alive and all of them were pretty young. Even back then, she favoured Cassey and spent a lot of time with her. She acts like a mother for Cassey and always encouraged her to show the rest of her family that she was just as good as them.  
_


	3. The pastor who doesn't believe in God

Cassandra left school in a hurry, right after her exam was finished. She still had to do some shopping and after that, she had to take care of her father's grave. Sadly, she was well aware, that as soon as she left, no one would take care of the grave anymore. Her uncle didn't care about the grave, her cousin thought it was below her dignity and her sister could be seen as a mixture of her uncle and cousin. The shopping was done rather quickly, after all the only things she wanted to buy were a newspaper, a Rum ball and some flowers. Much to Cassandra's dismay there was an old lady in the line who insisted on paying with 1 and 2 cent coins. She made a short mental note to never turn out to be like that as an old lady.

Her father was buried on the local cemetery, his grave consisting of a small, dark granite, with traditional golden letters on it. Nothing special, nothing fancy, just like he had wanted it to be.

"Well, if that isn't Cassandra."A soft, yet raspy voice said behind her, just as she was about to plant the first flower.

A sunflower, to be exact. Her father's favourite flower. She turned around to greet the old man, who she knew since her childhood. Father Michael.

"I see you are taking care of the grave again."He said, pointing at the bucket full of pulled out weeds.

"How did you hit on that, Father?"She asked with sarcasm clearly showing through.

"Sarcastic as ever. Why doesn't the rest of your family help you?"

Oh how she hated to lie to the Father. He was a very caring man. Kind to everybody and with a strong sense of justice, so he'd know right away that she was lying, but she tried it anyway.

"They are all busy with work and school."

"And you aren't?"

"I just had my final exam, so I'm done for now."

"I hate to see people like you lying for their family." Shit, he had seen through her.

"Father, I-"

"It's not your fault, your family doesn't care."For a while they fell silent, until the Father spoke again.

"There's something bothering you, isn't it?"

"How come you think that?"

"You brought a Rum ball and you tend to bring Rum balls to the grave whenever something's bothering you or whenever you think your father would be angry with you."Cassandra gulped.

It was bothering her a great deal, that he knew her so well. As an assassin it was crucial for her to keep her inner conflicts hidden. Deciding it was best, to stop lying to the Father, she just blurted her thoughts out.

"I'm going to leave in two weeks and I'm pretty sure nobody is going to take care of his grave. I just...wanted to apologize beforehand."

"Don't worry, Cassandra. I already talked to the cemetery maintenance. For a small fee they'd take over your 'job' "She stared at him in wonder.

"How did you know I was leaving?"

"Come on, who wouldn't want to leave your family if they were in your shoes?"

Even though he was smiling a sweet smile, she knew he really meant what he said.

"May I ask where you are going to?"

"Italy."

"Are you sure, you want to go there? You've always questioned the bible, so a deeply religious country might not be the best choice."

"I don't intend to go to church very often."

They stood by the grave for a while and Cassandra had almost decided to go back to planting flowers, when the Father spoke up again.

"I think your father would have wanted you to leave this place."

She looked at him and something deep inside of her was out to punch him, just because he had thrown in her father.

"Your father, he came to talk to me sometimes. The last time he came to talk was the day before his death. He told me that he was worried about your future. He knew you had no future in your family and it made him sad to see you suffering from all the humiliation the other members bestowed on you."

"I didn't know that he was that religious."

"He wasn't and I'm neither."

"What?"

"I'm not religious. I was, back then when I decided to be a pastor, but the years have made me question things I once took for granted."

Cassandra didn't know what to say to the Father, so she stayed silent, waiting for him to say something.

"I wish you a lot of luck in Italy."The Father patted her on the back and turned to leave.

"Thank you, Father."Mumbled Cassandra, as she watched the old man wander back to the cemetery gate.

* * *

So...another chapter finished. The pastor is actually based on the pastor in our village ^_^"

Raven: Rate and review, guys! It makes Same-tan happy!

Same: Yeah...kind of ^^


	4. Goodbye privacy!

Some hours passed before she returned home. It was already past noon and as she entered her room, she left again almost immediately in search for food. After a short inspection of the giant fridge, she decided on a bowl of rice pudding with red fruit jelly and was on her way back to her room, when she heard her uncle call for her.

"What's the matter, Berwald? I told you I wouldn't take any missions, unless you paid me."

"I'd recommend you come to my office, since I don't think you'd like to discuss that issue in public."

A bad feeling started to build up in her guts, but she followed him to his office nonetheless. He offered her to sit down, she refused coldly, saying she'd rather stand and he went to sit down behind his desk.

"How could you not tell us?"He asked without beating about the bush.

"Not tell you what?"

"Who your current..."He started gesturing "Lover is."

She felt her face heat up in embarrassment and quickly sat down in one of the chairs in front of her uncle's desk, setting the bowl she had previously held down on the other.

"Why should I tell you?"She asked, after she had successfully pulled herself together.

"Because it is my right to know who's fucking my niece."

"It's not. How did you find out anyway? I'm sure, I never mentioned it to anyone."

"I put a trace on your phone."

"And there goes my privacy."

"It's crucial for me to know who you have contact with. Especially if it's with Vongola."

"What's your problem with the Vongola family?"

"They are a bunch of bastards."

"As if you were any better."

"How dare you-"He rose from his chair, towering over her like a dangerous animal, out to kill its prey.

"How dare you interfere with my personal life?"Cassandra was angry, there was no denying it.

She rose up from her chair too, even though it was futile, since he was still way taller than her.

"You have no personal life! The only reason you're still here is that your work was beneficial for us, the Janson family! But now you want to align with Vongola and that makes you unworthy of even bearing our family's name!"

"What do you intend to do? Kill me? I'm pretty sure I can take on most of your goons!"

"If it stops you from telling our family's secrets to the Vongola, our eternal enemy, yes!"

"Why should I tell them anything about you anyway? I'm glad to leave you all behind and live a happy life somewhere without you! Why should I ruin my tad bit of happiness by causing a war?"

"Maybe you won't tell them on purpose. Maybe it slips you out during, I don't know, sex!"

"Jeez, you're sick! Just so you know, I DON'T talk during sex!"

"Good to know, but I won't let you go that easily."

"Then what are you up to?"Cassandra tried to calm herself or at least she tried to refrain from strangling her uncle to death right there and then.

"You're grounded."

"I'm not 10 years old anymore. It'll take a lot more to stop me from leaving."

"Then I'll kill Xanxus and target the Varia."

"They are by far stronger than you."

"Then I'll target your friends."

"I don't have any friends around here." He fell silent and sat down again, starring at her with angry eyes until he spoke up again.

"Okay, you can leave, but, and that's for sure, the rest of your life will be a living hell."

Cassandra gulped.

"You may leave now and take that gross stuff with you." He pointed at her bowl.

"If you continue eating stuff like that, you'll grow fat in no time."

Cassandra had almost reached the door, as her uncle spoke that last sentence and in a quick motion, she turned around, strode over to her uncle's desk and set the bowl on top of his head. Upside-down. Before he could react in any way, she had already reached her room and locked the door. She knew that as soon as she would leave her room, she had to take the rap for showering her uncle with her favourite dessert, but his outraged expression was absolutely priceless.

* * *

_Here I go again =)_

_Hope you enjoyed reading chapter no. 4 at least as much as I enjoyed writing it ^^_

_I'll probably update again next saturday, but after that there'll be no updates for about a month 'cause I'm spending some time in London \(^o^)/ Aaaaaand I won't have a computer with me, so writing might be indeed difficult ^^""_

_Rate and review...PLEASE!_

_I appreciate you faving my story and putting it on allert, but reviews just make my day O=)  
_


	5. Mother who bore me

**WARNING: OOC XANXUS TO THE EXTREME!**

_I just thought it would be good to warn you XD_

_With this I want to thank _

**xSoleilx **_and _**Shii-chan**_! Thanks for writing reviews all the time and helping me quite a lot X)  
_

* * *

While she reminisced in her little act of revenge, her phone decided it was best to start ringing.

With a sigh, Cassandra picked up said phone and answered with her usual "Cassey speaking." Just to be greeted by someone yelling some nasty words in Italian.

"X...Xanxus?" She asked timidly, because the way those words were yelled, made her certain, that Xanxus was the one insulting someone.

Most likely Lussuria or Squalo. She immediately started pitying both of them, just to be on the safe side.

"Oh, Cassey. I-"

"No problem. I've heard worse. By the way, you should stop insulting your companions. It might aggravate them and having a bunch of angry assassins around you isn't that clever."

"They are just completely incompetent."

"What horrible things did they do today?" Cassandra smiled.

She knew very well that it was easy to get on Xanxus' bad side. Luckily, she was relatively safe and if she made him angry, he'd resort to very rough sex. Very rough. Cassandra unconsciously shuddered at the imagination of Xanxus taking his anger out on her. Oh yeah..., she could still remember the pain that made her almost unable to move for a whole day. Even though it wasn't her fault in the first place. She hadn't made him angry that day, he just had to endure a meeting with Vongola IX and Vongola X.

"They can't even bring me the right whiskey." Oh, that was the problem.

"Geez, Xanxus, you've been spoiled rotten. Whiskey is whiskey. It makes you drunk and knocks your brain out, regardless of the brand. Just drink the f*cking stuff and stop thinking."

"You're pissed off by something."

"Yeah, I am."

"Did you fail the exam?"

"Nope. The exam went well."

"Did someone destroy your father's grave?""You can believe me when I say that that person would be six feet under by now and I wouldn't be pissed off. "

"So...it's something about your uncle."

"Yeah. Wait a second, I have to greet him, since he's probably listening. Hello, asshole! I hope you enjoy spying on others. Be sure to go and fuck yourself soon."

"He's listening?"

"Probably. He put a trace on my phone."

"That's nice to know. Hello, Mr. Janson! I definitely agree with Cassandra, though I want to replace the 'fuck yourself' with 'hang yourself'!"

"I think now he's jumping around his secret spying station like Rumpelstiltskin."

"I'd like to see that."

"Nah..., I've seen that before. It's not that funny."

"Did you catch that on tape?"

"Really, it's not funny. It looks like an obese tomato trying to break through the floor."

"I hope you laughed at him."

"I couldn't stop for an hour."

"That's good to know."

"Let's drop the topic. How was your day, apart from not being provided with the right whiskey?"

"Nothing special. That old fart called and started babbling about him being happy that you would move here."

"Don't be that harsh on him. He took you in and raised you."

"And he lied to me for 8 f*cking years."

"You have a point there, but I'm sure he didn't mean to make you angry."

"But he did and it'll always stay like this."

"You're not in the best mood either."

"It's just none of his business that you move here."

"It's not, but he's happy anyway, because he thinks of you as a son."

"I don't think of him as a father."

They fell silent for a short while and Cassandra considered changing the subject again, since this wasn't something she wanted to discuss while her uncle could be listening.

"You know, Cassey. I don't want him to interfere with my life more than he did."

"You're being talkative about your feelings today."

"Maybe I'm just confused and want you to lend me a hand with...this."

Cassandra didn't know what to say. She knew very well that Xanxus was different around her, but him confessing to being confused was completely out of character.

"Xanxus...,I...what's wrong?"

"I don't know how to handle HER presence."

"She...she's with you?"

"Not right now in fact. The doctor that takes care of her at the asylum called to tell me he thinks it would be good for her to see me from time to time."

"Xanxus..."

"I don't want to see her. I don't want to see her at all. She has no place in my life."

Cassandra was completely at a loss for words. Xanxus had told her about his childhood up to the day Vongola IX took him in once and it didn't sound very pleasant. Growing up in a very poor neighbourhood with a mother who had a split personality was no piece of cake. Her own mother had suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but a split personality was even worse and a lot harder to handle for a child.

"Maybe it would be good if you saw her."Cassandra wasn't completely sure about that, but suggested it nonetheless.

"I don't want to, 'cause I don't know to whom I'll be talking."

"Yeah..."She didn't know what else to say.

"Would you mind visiting her with me, once you've moved here?" unintentionally Cassandra left her jaw drop.

That was definitely NOT the Xanxus she was used to. Really...maybe he had taken drugs or something close to that.

"Cassey...you still there?" she was dragged back to reality by his voice.

"'Course." she knew her voice sounded throaty.

Damn it, why did it bother her that he was confused?

/_Because you love him._/

There was this voice again, that spoke to her every time she questioned her actions and deep down inside Cassandra knew that this voice was right. She just loved Xanxus, she should stop questioning that proven fact and start feeling worthy of his love. Both fell silent and Cassey could feel Xanxus getting lost in his own world once again.

"Hey...Xanxus." she didn't wait for him to answer. "Remember, just two more weeks."

She smiled, even though he'd never see it.

"You're right, just two more weeks. " A crash was heard on his side of the line.

"Cassey, I think I have to kick someone's ass."

"Don't be too harsh on that poor, unfortunate soul."

"I just give them what they deserve. Well..., see you."

"Bye."

She put her phone down and stared blankly out of the window. She was worried, to say the least. Not once had she seen or heard him being that jazzed.

"Geez, I'm starting to sound like one of those annoying bitches at school." She shook her head and sat down on her bed.

'Those annoying bitches' referred to some of the girls she went to school with. They were always worried about and fussing over their boyfriends. Like those guys couldn't take care of themselves. Really, she didn't want to be like them! Sighing, she lay down and stared at the ceiling. Would Xanxus be alright?

"Argh!"

Cassandra took one of her pillows and pressed it onto her face.

"I mustn't worry about Xanxus! He'll be alright. He's old enough. I'm not his babysitter and I do not need to take care of him!"She grumbled into the pillow, pressing it a little harder onto her face.

"I'm going to suffocate. "She mumbled, as she got up and walked over to the phone, but who was she supposed to call in a situation like this?

Lussuria?

He was her gay best friend, but he lived under the same roof as Xanxus.

Squalo?

No way. He'd laugh at her and then run to Xanxus to tell him she was worried and if Squalo didn't laugh, he'd yell and she wasn't ready to be deaf yet. Another sigh escaped her throat, just before she got an idea.

She could call Dino, her self-proclaimed older brother.

What was his number again? She tried to remember his private phone number, but could only remember the one usually reserved for business.

"Nah, he'll at least answer the call, then I can ask for his private number and call again." She dialled the number and waited for Dino to pick up.

"_Pronto?"_ She smiled. He sounded funny over the phone.

"Erm...Dino. It's me, Cassey. Would you mind telling me your private number once more. I kinda lost it."

"Cassey! No problem, shorty!" He told her his number and hung up, so Cassandra was left to call him once more.

* * *

_Translations:_

_"Pronto?" - that's how you say "Hello" on the phone in Italy_

_So...I was actually able to finish another chapter this week ó.Ò_

_I know Xanxus is completely OOC, but...let's say he drank quite a lot and he's talking to Cassandra XD_

_Hope you liked this chapter and don't forget to review ^^_

_-still happy 'cause she got reviews-_


	6. I wanna run away and never say goodbye

_So...here you go! Last chapter for a month...enjoy it =)_

_Oh..I'd like to greet **xSoleilx** with this. You're insane enough to learn German...so I'll dedicate this chapter to you ^^  
_

* * *

It took quite some time to explain everything to Dino and it wasn't easy to explain everything just so Dino wouldn't know that she was actually talking about Xanxus. After all, Dino didn't know that Cassey was in a relationship, just like most people.

"I'm sorry, Cassey, but I've got some business to do."

"No problem. Thanks for the advice and listening."

"Ciao!"

"Ciao!"

She let her head drop back against the wall. _Just talk with him about it. He'll probably feel better in no time._

Dino's words echoed through her head once more.

"Nice advice, buddy. Sadly, it won't work on Xanxus." She mumbled as she closed her eyes.

Jeez, she was sure that her life was a real bitch from time to time. The grumbling of her stomach attracted her attention. She needed to find something edible. Now. Skipping that bowl of nice rice pudding hadn't been her best idea so far and now, to make matters worse, she needed to leave her room in order to get some food.

"Let's just hope nobody wants to talk to me." Cautiously she pried open her door.

There was no one in the hall way, so she started hurrying down said hall way. Cassandra had almost reached the end of the hall way, when someone grabbed her wrists and made her turn around.

"Cecilia!" Cassandra stared wide-eyed at her younger sister's face.

She had just turned 16 and, as embarrassing as it was, was already taller than Cassey.

"How could you not tell me?" Cecilia looked incredibly hurt and angry at the same time.

"Tell you what?" Cassandra tried to break free from her sister's grasp, but wasn't ready to use real force against her.

"That you want to leave the family! That you are fucking someone from the Vongola family and that you intend to give information to them!"

"What?" Cassandra was completely dumbstruck.

"Who...who told you that?" She asked as calmly as possible.

"Uncle told me."

"Then use your brain and try to think yourself, Cilly! Would I be enough of a dork to give information away and , by that, cause a war?"

"You obviously are!"

"Thanks for thinking I'm on the same mental level as our dear uncle."

"Who do you think you are?"

"I think I'm your sister and his niece."

"Then don't talk about him like that, you ungrateful bitch!"

Cassandra, who had just succeeded in breaking free from her sister's grasp, froze on the spot.

"People with the sky attribute, people like YOU, are worth nothing! You people just accept everyone you come across! You are just aiming for harmony and, for harmony's sake, you compromise all the time! You're a fucking brilliant example for that! You want harmony, so you just go and let yourself get fucked by the enemy! You're a dirty whore and nothing else!"

Cassandra felt tears welling up in her eyes. It hurt. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt. She had always been there for her younger sister, had always done everything possible to make her sister happy and had given her sister all the love she could give. Hell, until a year ago her whole life had revolved around her sister and now this sister was calling her a worthless, dirty whore. To Cassandra it felt like someone was pulling away the ground from underneath her feet.

"Why do you say such things?" As she spoke, her voice sounded shaky.

"Because that's the truth, Cassandra. You are worth nothing. Uncle says so himself. You are nothing more than a pawn that can be sacrificed any time. Though, you don't like being a pawn, do you?"

Cassandra couldn't answer. There was a big lump in her throat and it felt hard to breath.

"Not going to answer, huh? Well, I'll tell you what you'd like to be. You'd like to be the queen. The one that can do whatever she likes."

Cassandra shook her head in silence. Why did her dear little sister suddenly sound so cold?

"Liar."

"No." Cassandra answered meekly, choking back tears.

"You just won't stop lying, will you? But, let me tell you something, Cassandra. You. Can't. Be. The. Queen. Because I'm going to be the queen. That's right, I'm going to be the next boss of the Janson family and I hereby vow, on the grave of our father, that I will hunt you down and make sure to kill you as soon as possible."

Shocked, she stared at her sister. That just couldn't be true. That wasn't her sister. Cassandra knew that her sister was more like her uncle, but she had never thought of Cecilia being even worse than Berwald.

"I'll leave now. Do whatever you'd like to do, my pawn." Cecilia turned around, a hideous smirk adorning her face as she walked away, leaving her older sister shaking in the hall way.

It took Cassandra some time to get back to her room and as she closed the door behind her, her legs gave in and she slumped to the floor and the tears she had fought to hold back started to pour out of her eyes. She felt miserable and dying didn't seem as cruel as all the pain she was currently feeling. What had made her sister that cruel and cold-hearted? No matter how hard Cassandra tried to think of a reason, she just didn't get it.

_...to kill you as soon as possible._

As soon as possible. That could be anytime!

"What am I supposed to do now?" Cassandra failed at holding back another sob.

She needed to think clearly. She needed to come up with a plan to escape, since she couldn't stay with her family. The distant sound of a train reached her ears and then it hit her.

"The train."

She jumped up, grabbed a bag and hurried over to her dresser. Her bag wasn't big, so she just stuffed some shirts, undies, pants and some socks into the bag.

"Where's my pocket?"

She started frantically searching for her pocket, until she found it on her desk. It was quickly put into the bag, along with a mobile she usually used to communicate with Xanxus while on missions. Good thing, she hadn't told her "family" about it.

"Now, how do I get out?"

The door was not a valid possibility. She didn't want her family to notice her disappearance any time soon. So, that only left the window. Another advantage her job as an assassin brought along was that she had no problem jumping from high places, like windows located on the second floor of a building. Without making any noises, she landed on the ground and started sprinting away from the mansion. She didn't have a car, so the only possibility of getting away was to walk, or, in her case, run.

It took her about an hour to get to the nearest train station and another hour to get to the Hamburg –Altona station. From there she took an S-Bahn to Hamburg Hauptbahnhof. Right before her departure at Hamburg-Altona she had drawn all the money she thought she'd need for her journey.

"Now for some more information." She mumbled, as she made her way over to the service centre of a railway company.

"Excuse me. How do I get to Palermo Centrale?"

The man behind the counter just stared at her.

"You sure you want to make such a long journey by train?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Well..." He started explaining the route she had to take and where she'd have to change trains, but she didn't really listen.

"When's the next train going to leave?"

"At about midnight."

"Isn't there a train that's leaving sooner?"

It was just 8 pm, so she'd need to wait for four more hours.

"There's none."

"How long does the trip take?"

"Erm...you're going to leave at midnight and will arrive at Palermo at 8 am the day after tomorrow. So..., all in all, it'll take you almost 32 hours."

Cassandra's jaw dropped, which obviously amused the man.

"Erm...I'll go by train anyway." She mumbled and paid for the ticket.

"Have a safe trip!" The man said as Cassandra turned to leave.

"Hopefully!" She answered, flashing a smile.

* * *

_So...this is definitly the last chapter for a whole month. Hope you liked it._

_Surprise, surprise! Cecialia appeared!_

**Cecilia "Cilly" Janson: **_She's 16 years old and Cassey's younger sister. She's about 1.75 meters tall (thus making her about 5 cm taller than Cassey), has long, blonde hair and blue eyes. Many people that see her comment on her looking like an angel, but, as you could see, she's actually a cruel bitch._

_Her flame type is Strom and she's going to be the next boss of the Janson family._

_Short translation:_

_"Ciao" is a way to say "Hello" and "Bye" in Italian._

_About the route Cassey took. It's the actual route you'd have to take from here to Palermo and I didn't make up the time you need for the trip. It's freaking real...and it stopped me from going on that trip this year XD Even the time of departure from Hamburg is real. The train that takes that long leaves at 00:11 h._

_See you guys in about a month! *waves goodbye with tears in her eyes* I'll miss you all  
_

_Reviews make me happy! (^3^)  
_


	7. Every person has a story to tell

There was a nice breeze outside, as Cassandra walked out of the station. The station could best be described as a huge, grey and gloomy building that smelled of fast food and petrol. Cassandra didn't like it at all. It made her feel lost and helpless. The square and the streets were still buzzing with people and Cassandra tried her best to get away from the big crowds that were trying to enter the station. Usually there weren't that many people at this entrance, after all, the shopping district was on the other side of the station, but today seemed to be different. She'd almost expected that a new play was about to air at the theatre that was on the other side of the street, but the theatre was currently going through the annual summer break.

She looked at the trees that were scattered here and there on the square. They didn't look too well. To be honest they looked like they were about to fall over like soldiers who had been hit by bullets. "_Probably due to all the people smoking beneath them or taking a pee there when they're drunk._" She thought grimly, as she walked by one particularly miserable looking tree. That was why she hated cities. They were dirty and humans destroyed every plant that dared to bloom between asphalt streets and concrete walls.

"Hey! Can you lend me some quid?"A homeless man, clad in dirty jeans and an equally dirty shirt, grabbed her shoulder.

"No."Cassandra brushed his hand off.

"But I have a-"

"You have a sick wife, five children and, let me guess, a sick mother. Am I right?" He looked at her through glazed eyes.

"Listen."She took out a piece of paper and wrote an address on it."Go to this address. You can spend some nights there. They'll give you food and clean clothes."

The man took the piece of paper, though he didn't seem to comprehend what was happening. Great, he'd most likely taken drugs.

"Okay...I'll take you there, but if you dare to touch me, I'll kill you, understood?"

His hand, which had come dangerously close to her butt, stopped mid-air and he nodded.

"Good. Now follow me."

She started leading the way, looking over her shoulder from time to time to make sure the man was still following her. It didn't take long to get to the shelter some organisation had opened for homeless people, what took about an hour was to convince the man of actually entering the big, grey building. Cassandra remembered how terrified she was, when she first stood before that building.

"I'm not going in there."

He tried to run away, but Cassandra grabbed him by his collar.

"If you don't enter on your own, I'll drag you and tie you to a chair."

She could practically hear his thoughts, as a sly smile crept onto his face.

"I know, that option must sound incredibly tempting, but, believe me, I'm not a fan of bondage, and after I tie you to that chair, I'll take out one of your kidneys while you remain conscious."

The smile vanished, as horror took over.

"You'd never do that."

"Wanna bet?"

"No." And, without trying to run away once more, he entered.

Cassandra stayed outside the building a while longer, her eyes closed. It had been years, since she last came to this place.

_Years. _

A memory of her as an 11-year-old entering this very same building crept into her mind. Her father had just died, her uncle and her cousins had been so horrible...she just ran away, though, after a week, she returned without anyone paying much attention to her coming back. She had almost been sure, that no one had even noticed she was gone. Nowadays she was absolutely sure that everyone had noticed her disappearance, but had been happy about it.

Putting her hands into her pockets, Cassandra let out a sigh and went back to the station. Great..., 2 hours to go and she had no idea how to kill time. Her hand brushed against her mobile. Well, she could call Xanxus and tell him that she came a bit earlier than expected, but...no. He'd ask what was wrong and she didn't want to burden him with her problems. After all, she was a grown-up woman and could deal with her life, or at least she tried to make herself believe that she was able to.

"I hate my life."

She sat down on one of the few benches that stood on the square by the station, pulled her legs close and let her head drop against her knees. Even though she despised big cities like Hamburg, she had to admit, that it was actually really nice that no one cared about anybody. Had she been sitting on a bench in a village or a town, someone surely would have approached her, but in this city she was just another girl sitting on a bench with her knees pulled up to meet her face.

"Why do so many young people hate their lives?"

Immediately her head shot up again.

Next to her sat an old man, probably in his 80s. Surprisingly he was not bald, but his hair had gone completely white. His face was marked by many wrinkles, especially around his eyes and mouth. Most likely he had smiled a lot in his life, just like he did now.

"Stop smiling." Cassandra didn't like him smiling at her.

"Why should I? I find it very amusing that so many young people, even though most of them have never experienced true hardship in their life, hate their lives so much."

"Yeah...very amusing. See? I'm laughing my head off." She grumbled quite sarcastically, keeping a straight face.

"You appear to be in quite a foul mood, little girl."

"Yes, I AM in a foul mood, but NO, I AM NOT a little girl."

"You're not a little girl? Then why are you sitting here like a little girl that's about to cry?"

"I'm NOT about to cry."

"Maybe not on the outside, but on the inside."

"Nah, I'm all out of tears to cry."

"Then, why do you hate your life so much?"

"None of your business, old man."

"You're right, but I'd like to know anyway."

"I won't tell you anything. Just leave me alone!"

"I'm waiting for my train, so I'm not going to leave any time soon."

"Fine, then shut up!"

For a while they sat on that bench in silence, watching the people who walked past them. Cassandra was quite content, as the old man was finally being quiet, but the man spoke up again.

"May I tell you a story?"

She turned to face him and, to her own surprise, nodded.

"Good, then let me start."

* * *

_I'm back from London \(^o^)/_

_And here's the new chapter I came up with in the few days I'm already back at home. Thanks to all of you my dear readers, who waited so patiently for a new chapter *hands out boxes full of cake*_

_Hope you enjoyed reading =)_

_Oh...rate and review. I still appreciate it if you fav and put my story on alert ( I'm really happy about that ^^), but comments make me even more happy ^_~  
_


	8. Story Of A Life

_Guys, I'm back! I know, I know...I took quite some time to finish this chapter, but it's pretty much the longest chapter 'till now, so hopefully that'll make up for the long wait._

_I'd like to announce a few things:_

_1) Claude has a godmother. Her name is **xSoleilx** and she picked out a name for him =3_

_2) I'll be going back to school starting next week, so I'll probably be able to update either once a week or once every two weeks. Please bear with it o.O  
_

* * *

_Once there was a boy. He was born in the 1920s, the Golden Twenties, but most things weren't golden. Like almost all the other men in his district his father worked in a factory, but for children that doesn't matter at all. All children love their parents, even if they are the biggest idiots on the planet. This boy, he was an only child. No siblings, just like his parents were, thus he didn't have any uncles, aunties or cousins. His paternal grandfather had died in the First World War and his grandmother followed a few years after that. The boy believed she had died from a broken heart, just like his father had told him in one of his rare philosophical moments. His father, named Abraham, wasn't much of a thinker or a philosopher. He was a tall, black-haired man with clear eyes that always seemed to be warm, even though their colour was that of ice who liked to work in his factory._

Cassandra tried to imagine Abraham, closed her eyes and, unintentionally the image of her father popped up in her head. Sure, her father had had blonde hair, but the eyes must have been the same. She recalled her teacher telling her that there was no such thing as warm ice, but, and to this day she was sure, that warm ice existed. Her father's eyes had been like warm ice and, obviously, this Abraham's eyes had been the same.

_The boy's mother was a petite woman with brown hair and eyes the colour of honey. She was someone who strictly obeyed all rules, but as long as the boy did what he was told, she'd always be nice and gentle, just like mothers ought to be._

"Yeah..., mothers ought to be nice and gentle, but sadly they are not like that at all." Mumbled Cassandra and pulled her knees a little closer.

She remembered her mother all too well, even though she tried to avoid thinking of her. Her mother had always been some sort of draconic, mother-shaped tyrant with mental issues, but it had all gotten even worse after this tyrant had split up with the man she had been married to for a decade, namely Cassandra's and Cecilia's father. It had been years since Cassandra had last heard anything from her and every time she imagined her mother suddenly standing before her again she panicked.

"May I continue?" The old man looked worried, the creases on his forehead more visible than before.

"Of course, I didn't mean to interrupt you."

_His childhood had been quite peaceful, but everything took a turn for the worse, when a certain dictator got to be in charge of Germany, the country he was born and raised in, despite his French name, Claude. You see, the boy and his father weren't exactly the kind of people the dictator liked. To be honest, the boy was Jewish, just like his father. In the end, the boy's parents got divorced and his mother watched as he and his father were loaded onto a pick-up and driven off to a concentration camp._

"What a wonderful mother. I hope she died a very slow and very painful death all on her own without anyone by her side." Cassandra was appalled by that mother's behaviour.

What a bitch that woman obviously was! The old man chuckled and thus set an end to Cassandra's inner triad.

"Just to calm you a bit, the boy's mother burned to death in the Bombing of Dresden some years later."

"Serves her just right. How did you know I was upset anyway?"

"Your eyes give you away, little girl. You may be able to control every muscle on your face, but your eyes show everything."

"I'll need to buy some really dark shades."

"I'll just continue."

_I think you've probably heard about concentration camps before, but I'll just tell you what happened to this boy. After they had been picked up, they were brought to a long train and put into carriages with a lot more of people. Neither knew how long the journey would take, but all hoped it'd end soon, because there were so many people in the little carriages that it was getting hard to breath and really hot. By the time they reached their dreadful destination, some old and sick people had already died on the way. The boy was terribly scared, so was everybody else, even his father. With a rattling noise the doors were flung open and men, their guns pointed at them, yelled at them to get out. Outside dogs were barking and one of those hellhounds managed to break free from his leash and attacked some people who fell to the floor, bleeding and crying. One of the guards took out his gun and shot all the people lying on the floor. After that bloody greeting they were sorted. Later on he'd learn that they had been sorted __into two groups only, the ones who were able to work and the ones who weren't, and that the ones who weren't would be killed right away. The boy and his father were sorted into the group of people who were still able to work and thus were allowed to live a while longer. The boy noticed saw some prisoners were watching them and the first thing that came to his mind was, that they didn't look like they were alive with their haggard faces, the big, dull eyes and the emaciated bodies. Later, he'd remember that his father had tensed the grip on the boys hand and that the boy himself had done the same, but that's not the point right now. The boy, along with all the others, was brought to a room, where they had to undress and their heads were shaven by other prisoners. Some of the men had their gold teeth plucked out without as much as anaesthesia. It took some time to get everyone ready, but as soon, as those other prisoners were done with them, the men with the guns came and forced them into a tiled room, where they had to take a shower._

Cassey knew those descriptions. She had visited a concentration camp once and shivered at the sheer memory of that room. It had been so cold in there, even though she had visited during the summer._  
_

_ The water was freezing and the boy was incredibly cold and, to his surprise, he saw that even his father trembled. Once the men with guns thought they were cold enough, they stopped the water and handed every person in the shower a stripped pyjama, shoes resembling slippers and a cap. The boy put on the pyjamas and, clutching his father's hand, walked out of the shower. They were greeted by more prisoners who immediately began sewing patches with numbers on them and a yellow star to their pyjamas. Much to his surprise, the boy noticed, that almost everyone got different symbols. Some got pink triangles, others red ones and, secretly he envied the ones with the red triangles. He loved the colour red, so why did he have to wear a yellow star on his pyjamas? It took him some weeks, to realize, that every triangle marked the wearer as a certain kind of prisoner. The yellow triangle topped with an inverted, void black one, that his father had to wear, meant, that he was a Jewish race defiler. The red inverted triangle meant that someone was there, because they belonged to other political parties. Pink inverted triangles meant that someone was homosexual. You probably know, that prisoners in concentration camp were treated worse than shit and thus it was a daily routine for most adults to carry out the dead people right after they had woken up. The boy, who had been raised in a very peaceful environment, was mortified by the things he saw. After all, he was only 11 years old at that time and, actually, still a child, so after a month in that camp the boy came to hate mornings and nights, since, for him, they smelled of death. One night he had to sleep in a different barrack than his father. The boy had been so scared, but his father had told him, that everything was going to be alright. Oh, how wrong the father had been... _

_The next morning smelled of death, nothing unusual, but the boy had a queasy feeling nonetheless. The night before he and his father had agreed to meet at the flagpole the next morning and so they boy, still half asleep, made his way to the flagpole. That was when he saw someone carrying out the dead people from his father's barrack. The queasy feeling got worse, as the boy walked towards the pile of lifeless bodies. He could see him from the distance. Black hair, but cold, lifeless eyes. There was no warmth left, no trace of laughter, nothing. Nothing that had made his father's eyes so wonderful. A breeze made its way through the camp and the boy shivered, even though it was not cold. Without giving it a second thought, the boy started running. He ran and ran and after a while reached the big fence that surrounded the camp. Still mourning his father's death, the boy fell to his knees and started digging. Later he'd think of it as sheer luck that none of the guards had seen him at the fence._

"Luck was definitely on his side that day." Wondered Cassandra aloud and the old man smiled a sad smile.

That was when it dawned on her. The old man was actually telling her about HIS life. That boy was him. The old man was Claude!

"Oh my God...I'm so sorry." Blurted Cassey out.

"What for?" The old man raised a bushy eyebrow at her.

"For not noticing earlier."

"That's nothing to be sorry for. You're just a bit slow."

"Hey!" Maybe she had been a bit slow, but that was no reason for him to tell her that. Well, he was just telling the truth, but it wasn't nice either way.

"Can you listen a short while longer? I'm almost finished, little girl." She nodded and decided not to argue about the 'little girl'.

_Claude, the boy, didn't know how long it took him to dig the hollow that was just deep enough for him to crawl out beneath the fence, but once he was finished that didn't matter anymore. He crawled out and started to run away as fast as he could. The months of hard work and little to no food had made him incredibly weak, but, somehow, he made his way over the border and over to Britain. Well..., that's where I'd like to end my story._

"Nice ending." Commented Cassandra, staring at the old man next to really had been through a lot. A whole fucking lot.

"Now it's your turn."

"Pardon?" Cassandra, who had just thought about all the things the old man, no, Claude had been through, snapped out of said thoughts.

"It's your turn to tell a story."

She stared at him in disbelieve. There was no way in hell she was going to tell him anything about herself.

She sighed in resignation as she realised, that it would be incredibly rude not to tell anything about herself now.

"Good, but let's go into the station first. It's gotten really dark." She stood up and dusted herself off, even though she was sure that there was no dust.

Claude got up, albeit a lot more slowly than her and with one hand placed on his lower back. After all, he was getting a bit long in the tooth. She offered him a hand, but he politely refused and straightened up on his own. A soft, melancholic smile graced Cassey's lips, as she looked at the old man. While she looked at him, she wondered whether she'd be like him once she was old.

Back at the Janson mansion Cassandra's disappearance hadn't gone unnoticed and Berwald had decided to take action.

The room was illuminated only by a small amount of candles. Ten of them to be exact and they were all placed on the mahogany table, whose furbished surface was gleaming in the candlelight. Three huge, old armchairs were placed around it, two of them facing each other and one at the end of the table, right between the other two. Currently two of those armchairs were occupied, namely the one in the middle and the chair to its left.

"Uncle, I'm sick of waiting." Complained the figure in the left armchair, fingers dancing over the timeworn, red velvet of the armrest. "When's she going to arrive?"

"She should be here any minute, Cecilia." The figure in the other armchair leaned back and let out a sigh. His blonde hair, which was normally slicked back so neatly, now was a ruffled mess and he looked tired.

"Why so worn out, my dearest Berwald?" A slim figure emerged from the dark doorway and stepped closer to the table.

"M." Berwald's voice was calm and betrayed the exhaustion his face clearly showed. "Take a seat. Today Cecilia will keep us company, I hope that's okay for you."

The woman, who was addressed as M by almost everyone, sat down in the armchair to Berwald's right and flashed a smile at the girl opposite her.

"Cecilia, let me take a look at you for a second." M leaned over the table, careful not to let her generous cleavage touch the candles.

"You've grown quite well." She reached out a hand to stroke Cecilia's hair.

"You grew up to be a real beauty, darling." M sat back in her chair, her short, silver hair glistening in the dim light.

"M, we're here to discuss a certain matter with you." Obviously surprised to hear Berwald speak, M turned her head to look at him.

"What's the matter?"

"Cassandra." Even in the dim light of the merely ten candles one could see M scrunching her delicate nose up, as she let out an unladylike snort of disgust.

"What about her?" Her voice was cold, as were her eyes.

"She's become a threat for the Janson family. Imagine, she's teaming up with Vongola!"

"You must be kidding!" M appeared to be shocked. "Well...she always was such a complicated and loathsome child." She shrugged her shoulders, before she continued. "Why don't you just kill her?"

"Because, and sadly she's well aware of that fact, she's stronger than anyone in this family, INCLUDING me."

"Really? Well..., maybe she takes at least a bit after me."

All three of them sat in silence for a while, until Cecilia, who had just watched the two adults talking, chimed in.

"We want you to help us eliminate her, mum." The words felt odd on her tongue.

The topic M had been a no-no between her and Cassandra for years, though Cecilia couldn't understand why her older sister had such a deep resentment towards their mother.

"So that's the point. You want me to kill my firstborn daughter?"

For a moment M's expression darkened and Cecilia thought she was going to yell at them something like 'There's no way in hell I'd kill my precious firstborn.' but then a lunatic smile seemed to split her face in half.

"Kihihi~ Nothing would give me a greater pleasure than to erase this godforsaken pest from the face of this earth. "

"Do you want money, M?" Berwald looked a bit nervous, but his voice didn't give him away.

"No. This will be my revenge on her for ruining my life. Kihihihihi~"

Unconsciously, Cecilia tried to back away, but was soon met with back of her armchair. Her mum sure was creepy, but she'd have to get used to it. After all, most people associated with the mafia were creepy, just like her mum and her sister, but she was going to be just as cool as her uncle. She'd show her sister that she was stronger.

"If this is all, I'll take my leave now." M rose from her chair, still grinning like a madman.

"You may leave. We might contact you again, so be prepared."Berwald rose as well and reached out his hand to shake hers. Cecilia, still a bit creeped out and weak in the knees, stood up carefully and was startled by her mother's face being just inches away from hers.

"Cecilia, continue to bloom, my beautiful rose." M kissed her daughter on the cheek. At least her precious little girl had grown up to be wonderful, while the older one was just an utter disappointment, but it would be a lot of fun to wipe that vermin out of existence.

* * *

_So..this was chapter 8 of AAS =)_

_Hope you enjoyed it ^_^_

_Please leave me some reviews...I just love them =3  
_


	9. The start of a journey

"_Damn it!" _

_The 17-year old, blonde assassin put her guns back into the holster, as a stinging pain raced up her spine. Her mission was over, the traitors were dead and she obviously got hit by a bullet one of those bastards had fired. _

_"Great...just great...how in the world am I going to explain this to Dino?" _

_To Cassandra, who was now trying to get the bullet out of the wound, it didn't matter that she was hurt. What mattered to her was, how she was going to explain that wound to her host brother. Cuts and bruises were easy to explain: She'd just say she'd fallen down the stairs the same way he usually did, but a deep, profusely bleeding wound that would need to be stitched? Stairs usually didn't cause such wounds. The sounds of steps approaching the spot she was currently situated at made her forget about the wound. More guards? Once more she grabbed her guns and braced herself for attacking, as the 'guard' entered the room and looked over the pile of dead bodies on the marble floor. The 'guard' was tall and, she took a closer look at him, his tanned skin was covered in scars. His black hair looked spiky with...racoon tails attached at the back? Cassandra stifled a laugh. Racoon tails? That was so ridiculous and the colourful assortment of feathers, that was also attached at the back, didn't make it any easier for her to refrain from laughing and thus giving away her hiding spot. Wait...did someone, apart from her client, know she was the one responsible for the murder and send that clown on purpose to make her laugh herself to death? Yeah, paranoia sends its greetings._

_"Well, fuck. Someone else already did my job..."The man, probably in his early twenties, let out a displeased growl. So, he was an assassin send to kill those guys, just like her. _

_Unknowingly, she put her guns back, which caused a faint sound. _

_"Who's there?" The man took out his own guns, his fiery red eyes scanning the room for her. "C'mon out you f*cking twat!" _

_Cassandra gulped and heaved a sigh, before she left her hiding spot behind one of the giant pillars. _

_"A girl?" The man was obviously flabbergasted and put his guns back into their holsters. _

_"Yeah...I'm female."_

_"How did you survive this massacre?"_

_"By being the one that killed them." She pointed at the pile of bodies, still trying to contain her laughter. The racoon tails really cracked her up. _

_"Don't you f*cking kid me! A GIRL like YOU couldn't kill anyone." Cassandra had been a blow to her injured self-esteem. _

_"Why do you think I couldn't kill anyone?"_

_"Cause you're fu*cking puny." Suddenly anger her anger took over and she stormed past him and out of the room. _

_Just as she was about to leave, she turned around to face the man once more. _

_"By the way, jackass, if you don't want your opponent to laugh themselves to death, get rid of those racoon tails and feathers." She didn't give a damn about his reaction and just left him standing there. No one had the right to call her 'puny'. NO ONE!_

Cassandra leaned back into her seat. It had turned out, that Claude and she were both on the same train and in the same compartment. After all, he had pestered her into telling him something about her own life, so she ended up telling him something about the first time she had met Xanxus. She curled her lips up in a weary smile, as she looked out at the passing darkness, after all it was just about 1 am. It had taken her some time to stop being grumpy, after Xanxus had called her puny that day.

"So...why did you make yourself and your boyfriend work as assassins in your story?" Claude made her snap out of her thoughts.

"Erm...because..." She tried to think of a good explanation. "Because it's more interesting than our actual jobs."

Claude raised a thick, grey eyebrow at her and shook his head. "Oh little girl, you shouldn't make up such stories. It could confuse old people like me."

"Well, usually I'm not really talking to old people." She smiled cheekily and took out her phone. "I need to go outside and call someone."

Claude looked at her in surprise.

"You can't call someone at this hour! That's a disturbance of the peace at night! The person you call could sue you for that."

"The person I'm going to call won't sue me, 'cause for them it's daytime. " With that she left the compartment and went down the dark aisle.

She shivered as she stepped onto the small platform, usually reserved for smokers. It was a lot colder at night than she had previously thought, but that was just what she had wanted. All her previous sleepiness had vanished and she was wide awake. As she dialled the number on her phone, her heartbeat quickened. She hadn't talked to her for quite some time, so would her old friend still meet her with a kind reception? Cassandra was still caught in her imaginations of the most horrible situations, as someone picked up the phone.

" ¿Dígame?"

" Sara?"

"_Chica_?"

"Yeah...,it's me."

"What a surprise! How are you, _chica_?"

"I'm fine so far."

Sara made a sound that reminded Cassey of a buzzer in a quiz show. "You're still bad at lying."

"Well, yeah...I just ran away from my family."

"Oh."

"I know, you think it's childish, but they were out to kill me, so I really had no choice, apart from killing them."

"Where are you now? I have to say, I'm sort of worried."

"On a train to another country."

"Okay, so why are you calling me, my fair-weather friend?"

Cassandra chuckled. "As if you were any better."

"You might just have a point there, so, why are you calling me?"

"Business."

"Oh, _chica_! Can't you call me for another reason?"

"Later, I suppose."

"Well, what is it?" Cassandra hesitated a bit. Would it be right to get Sara involved in this mess? "Could you look something up for me and send all information you can find to my safe account?"

"Of course, so, who is it?"

"His name is Julian Druzhinia. Want me to spell it?"

"No...I think I can handle that name. It's not Turkish, so I should have spelled it just right."

"Thanks, Sara. "

"No problem and please call me once you're safe."

"You'll be one of the first to know."

"Right, I'll call you, once I've send everything to your account."

"Thanks a lot and have a nice day."

"Sleep well, _chica_!" Sara hung up and Cassandra put her phone back into her pocket.

She was not entirely sure whether it had been right to involve Sara or not. What if her family found out about her involvement and started hunting her down as well? Cassandra shook her head. It was impossible for them find out about it, besides she was probably just being too tired to think. Maybe she should go to sleep for now. After all, it had been an nerve-wracking day.

* * *

_I'M SO SORRY, GUYS!_

_I know I told you that I wouldn't take longer than two weeks, but, I think I just took about 3 weeks for this chapter T^T_

_Why? Well, school started again and it's taking up so much time and energy x_X I'll try to be faster with the next chapter, but I can't promise anything...I wish I could already graduate x_x_

_So...I think, just in case, I'll put a small traslation for the Spanish words in here._

_1) ¿Dígame? - like 'Hello' over the phone_

_2) chica - 'girl'...but in this case I made it a quirk of Sara to call Cassandra 'chica' instead of 'Cassey' or 'Cassandra' =)_

_Hope you liked this chapter ^_^ And, don't worry, I'll continue Xanxus' and Cassey's story later on...maybe someone can guess how they got to be nice to each other? =3_


	10. All roads lead to Rome

Sara leaned back in her chair. So, Cassey was on the run? That was about as bad as bad could get. She heaved a sigh and ran her fingers through her thick black hair, all the while thinking about her friend alone on a train to, most likely, Italy.

"I'm not able to help it. The only way I can be of any use now is to find out about this guy. " mumbled Sara to herself, as there was no one else in her small apartment.

It didn't take Sara more than 3 hours to collect all the data she could find about Julian Druzhinia. According to the last database she'd checked, he was on top of the CIA's list of most wanted criminals. What on earth connected this bastard, who had already been sentenced for homicide, torture and manslaughter, to Cassandra? Okay, Sara knew Cassey was working for the Sicilian mafia, but her cute, little Cassey was way to kind to be able to work with someone like him! Sara shook her head in desperation. She'd probably never be able to figure Cassey out, because, even though they'd been friends for about all their life, she still couldn't see through Cassey's mask of coolness and composure. Well, at least she knew it was a mask, unlike most people who obviously believed Cassey was really as uncaring as she appeared to be. With a last look at the data, she send everything to Cassandra's account and dialled her number.

Cassey was woken up by her own, annoying ringtone.

"Hm?" was all she grunted into the phone, only to be greeted by a "That's not how you greet someone who just send you all the data they could find about a guy who's a complete and utter bastard and deserves to have his intestines ripped out while he's still conscious, _chica_!"

Cassandra had to stop herself from laughing. "Thanks a lot, Sara. I'll look at it once I can get my hands on a computer."

"What about your laptop?"

"Battery's dead."

"Oh."

They fell silent for some seconds until Cassandra heard the oh-so-familiar sound of a gun's safety being released.

"Sara...there's someone with a gun standing probably right behind you." Her voice sounded wooden, at least to herself.

"I know, _chica_. That person is pointing that very gun's barrel at the back of my head."

Unconsciously, Cassandra started trembling.

Sara had frozen on the spot the moment she had felt another person's presence in the room and the gun the intruder was pointing at her didn't encourage her to move, but even though her body was petrified, her brain was still working. She knew that smell the person behind her emitted. She'd smelled it before and was absolutely sure that there was only one person she knew that smelled like that.

"_Chica_, I know who's standing behind me." Sara gulped, as she was sure, that as soon as she'd say it out loud her attacker would shoot her. "It's your mo-"

The sound of the shot tore at Cassey's eardrums and tears made their way across her cheeks.

"Sara?" She knew that her friend wouldn't answer, but maybe, just maybe, she was still alive and Cassey clung to that tiny glimpse of hope like a drowning man would cling to a piece of driftwood.

Suddenly, a voice she hadn't heard in years, made her wish she was deaf.

"Cassandra, are you still there? Still holding on to your tiny bit of hope?" Cassandra tried to calm herself. It couldn't be HER, could it?

"Well..., I'm sorry to tell you , but Sara is no longer amongst us. To be honest, her exorbitantly large brain and fragments of her skull on her computer screen, which, by the way, seems to be the only source of light in this muggy apartment, make a fine work of art."

Cassandra stifled a sob and swallowed her tears, but was unable to speak anyway.

"Not able to speak, huh? Fine, I just wanted to tell you that I'm the one who's going to kill you and everyone close to you. Oh...and I know you're travelling by train, so be careful, because due to your irrational hope of Sara being alive, I was able to detect your current whereabouts. _Man sieht sich_~"

The line was cut off and Cassandra, in a sudden fit of rage, threw her phone out of the train, which was still moving through the now dull and ugly looking landscape of Austria.

The hours passed by, but Cassandra neither noticed nor cared. Everything seemed dull and, even though she tried to stop herself, she kept on crying and sobbing. Someone, she couldn't see quite clearly through her curtain of tears, but guessed it was the conductor, asked her whether everything was alright. Cassey couldn't remember her answer, but was sure she'd nodded in response and he'd probably given up and left after some minutes. He had work to do after all!

By the time the train came to a halt at the Roma Termini station, Cassandra had no tears left inside of her. She took a quick look at her reflection in the window. Her eyes looked puffy from crying and the lack of sleep, her hair was a mess and she smelled of the damn cigarettes she's bought and smoked while on this train. All in all, her pale complexion and the beforehand mentioned aspects mirrored her inner feeling perfectly: she felt awful.

She left the station in a hurry, all the while looking over her shoulder, which must have given a lot of people the impression she was paranoid, or at least no one dared to come close to her. After maybe 2 hours of wandering through the streets of Rome, Cassey found a little shop in an alleyway, which, much to her delight, had a public phone she could use and some sweets she could buy to stop her stomach from growling.

"Helloooo~ Lussuria speaking "

Cassandra stared at the phone in disbelief. She could her Lussuria speaking even though the phone was about an arm length away from her ear?

"Erm…it's me, Cassey." She braced herself for more screeching, but, much to her surprise, Lussuria continued speaking normally.

"Well…,are you calling me so I can tell you how your beloved Xanxus is doing? He's doing just fine, but maybe he's a bit more happy. You see, he's not throwing glasses at Squ-chan's head as often as he used to, so I guess he's happy."

Cassandra smiled. Xanxus was happy and that somehow made her happy as well…even though his way of showing happiness was quite…strange.

"Luss, I…need someone to talk to." She fidgeted with a strand of her hair.

"Oh…did anything happen, darling?"

"I…don't want to tell you everything over the phone. Where are you?"

"Erm…in Rome, at a friend's house. But, you know, you're not in Rome, you're in Germany…"

"I'm in Rome too." Cassey fought some tears back. She wouldn't cry here, where the vendor who was starring at her bum and the old man who had just bought a newspaper and was currently also starring at her bum, could see her.

"Then we can meet up. Where are you? You sound terribly tired, dear."

"I don't know where I am, so…let's meet…at the Pantheon."

"I'll be waiting for you. With a bag full of chocolate." He hung up and Cassey rushed out of the store before the two men could see her tears.

Why was Luss always being so nice and kind? And how did he find out that she needed tons and tons of chocolate right now?

* * *

_I'm baaaack =)_

_My holidays are going to start this Friday and I'll try to update more often then. Why I'm updating now? Well...I'm sick ^^"_

_Short translation:_

_'Man sieht sich' - is Germany and could be roughly translated as 'See you'_

_Reviews are craved for O=)  
_


	11. Bubbles, gays and reality

It was already dark when Cassey arrived at the Piazza della Rotonda and her lack of sleep was slowly getting to her. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. The little bars and restaurants emitted a nice smell, which –hungry as she was- attracted Cassandra a great deal. She opened her eyes after a few moments, looked around the square and smiled. This place would never change.

She made her way to the stairs below the obelisk in the square's middle and sat down, looking at the Pantheon which was illuminated by a couple of spot lights. It was a sight to behold and Cassey reached into her pocket to get her usually omnipresent mobile out – after all, the sight was worth a picture- only to remember she had thrown it out of the train.

"Damn it!"She cursed under her breath, as she stared at the huge, old building in front of her.

"Cassey~ " the screeching voice that echoed over the square and made all people turn their heads around to see the source of it, informed Cassandra of Lussuria's arrival.

"Please, God, if you really exist, make the ground beneath my feet swallow me up." She begged silently, as she saw Lussuria, dressed in a long, green coat with what appeared to be dead cats at the cuffs, a bright pink shirt, blue pants and orange boots, walking towards her. Some teenagers, who were standing next to her, shook their heads and one of them mumbled "_Checca!_"

With her sweetest smile, she turned to face them and said in a quite threatening voice

"I hope you weren't talking about my friend." and walked over to Lussuria, even though she could feel the eyes of everyone on the square glued to them.

"_Cara_!" Lussuria hugged Cassey the moment she was less than an arm's length away from him. "You look awful, dear. Didn't you sleep?"

She shook her head in silence. He tilted her chin upwards, so he could see her eyes.

"Oh, darling! You were crying, weren't you? You must have been crying a lot!" He hugged her again and led her away from the square and the starring people. For some minutes neither of them spoke and Cassey felt the tears creeping into her eyes again. She gulped. No, she wasn't going to cry outside where people could see her. There was no way she was giving in to her tears again!

A sob escaped her throat and she stopped dead in her tracks, as did Lussuria. He looked at her pityingly and pulled her close, while he wondered what had happened. He wasn't going to question her about it. The best thing he could do right now and he knew that very well, was comforting her and waiting for her to tell him what troubled her.

"Shhhht, it's alright, darling." He stroked her hair as gently as he could and waited for her to stop crying, which took some time. As he let go of her, her puffy eyes spoke volumes. She was at the edge of breaking down and even though she was obviously trying her best to smile bravely, Lussuria could see right through it.

"Cassey, let's go to my place by taxi." He noticed her looking through her bag for her pocket. "No, I'll pay. Think of it as a 'Welcome home' gift."

None of them said a word till they entered the apartment. It was quite large and Cassandra could spot a lot of shoes in a side board right next to the door. She had to smile at the thought of how her own shoes had to look pretty shabby compared to all those shining, expensive looking ones.

"You're back already?" The voice startled Cassandra and she looked around in confusion, spotting a brown haired man leaning on the wall opposite her.

"So you must be Cassey." He held out his hand to her, but she was still too stupefied by his presence to do anything apart from staring at him.

"Cassey…what about taking a long bubble bath?" Lussuria flashed a bright smile and gently shoved her towards the bathroom and Cassandra, feeling too drained to do anything, even let Lussuria run her a bath.

While the gay assassin poured in various amounts of scented mixtures into the steaming hot water, she looked around the tiled room. It was HUGE! Larger than Xanxus bath, larger than her bath, larger than ANY bath she'd seen so far! The bathtub was large enough to fit at least 8 people in it and everything reminded her of an antique roman bathhouse.

Once Lussuria had left the room and she had undressed, Cassey slid into the tub and let herself be enveloped by an army of shining bubbles. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head back and tried to relax. It was nice to lie in the hot water and having to think of nothing. A picture of Sara popped up in her head and made Cassey snap her eyes open. Sara was dead. She'd never come back. They'd never talk again. They wouldn't be able to go to Disney Land, a dream they had had for years.

It was painful to realize that one of her dearest friends was now gone forever and that she was at fault. If she hadn't asked Sara to do some research, Sara would most likely still be alive! Cassandra let herself sink below the masses of bubbles t o the bottom of the tub, where she cried. Damn, life was one of the toughest bitches she had come across so far!

* * *

_Waaaaaah T^T I'm SO SORRY *bows head in shame*_

_School's awful and I have a truckload of exams coming up (and I actually have already written some =_=) _

_Please, please, please be patinet from now on q.q It'll take me a lot of time to finish new chapters. Aaaand I also hate writing things without background knowledge, so from now on I'll be doing like a lot of research on different cities (mainly Palermo and Rome) to make everything as 'real' a possible ^_^ So...if you have any suggestions where Cassey should go in Italy, don't be afraid to tell me =3_

_Little dictionary:_

_checca - fag_

_Cara - darling_

_Hope you enjoyed readig even though it's quite short ^_^_

_*hugs everyone*_

_Reviews are so nice~  
_


	12. Dress Ball Death?

Two hours. She had been in the bathtub for two hours. Now the water was freezing, the bubbles were gone and her tears were gone as well. It was time to move on. To move on with life, even though someone was missing. Cassandra gulped, as she thought about _her_ once more. She wasn't able to say _her_ name just yet. It was too early to say _her_ name. Before she left the bathroom – or would bathhouse be more fitting? – she put on some fresh clothes. Lussuria was nowhere to be seen, so she went to look for him. She found him in something that could be called a walk-in closet.

"What're you doing here?" She looked at the masses of clothes that hung in the closet, barely holding her laughter back, as she noticed some colourful fur collars. Lussuria obviously spent quite some time here and that meant that the man she'd seen earlier was more than a meaningless hanky-panky.

"Oh…erm…" He tried to hide a huge, black bag.

Cassey smiled. "You bought some new clothes?"

"Yes."

"What did you buy?" Lussuria could have sworn that Cassey was sparkling, as she walked over to him.

She had always loved shopping with him, even though she rarely bought something. While he had been wasting time with being confused about her being all sparkly, Cassandra had already opened the bag and was now starring as its content.

"Lussuria, why did you buy a dress?" Cassandra starred somewhat shocked at the fluffy dress.

The top was a white corset with black embellishments on it and the bottom consisted of a multitude of organza flounces, most of them being black and white, though some flounces appeared to be pale pink. On the flounces were more embellishments and Cassandra couldn't stop starring at the dress. She had to admit, that the dress was indeed beautiful, but why on earth would Lussuria buy a dress like that?

"Cassey, darling, you need to take your mind off things right now. So…,I thought it might be good for you to go to a ball."

"No way! I'm not going to a ball!" She backed away from the dress and from the gay assassin.

"Oh…you don't have much of a choice. I'm forcing you and Xanxus will be waiting for you~" His smile was sickening as he took advantage of Cassey's momentary stupor and closed the door.

"Don't you dare come near me, Luss! Get away!" She tried to escape, but her back soon met the wall behind a bunch of jackets.

"The less you struggle, the faster it'll be over."

"Noooooooo!"

Lussuria was already finished with Cassandra's hairdo, which was rather simple compared to her dress, when the door bell started ringing.

"They are here!" Cassandra groaned in exasperation. Who was going to torture her NOW? She sat there in the closet, wondering whether suicide was a socially accepted option at this moment, when the door was thrown open and a petite woman walked into the room. The dark blonde hair, that reached her shoulders and the petrol coloured, simple dress that ended just over the woman's knees, seemed somewhat familiar.

"CASSEY! "Okay, now Cassandra definitely remembered.

"Alenya?" She tilted her head to the side. Was that really Alenya Squalo? Last time Cassandra had checked on Alenya, her hair had been much lighter and…longer.

"Yeah, it's me. So Lussuria's already done with you?" She walked over to Cassandra and hugged her.

"Yeah, he is. And I'm done with my life."

"You're still a drama queen. Now, turn for me. I want to see the dress." Cassey stood up and turned was hell! No, hell was nicer than this!

"Nice choice, Luss. When do we have to leave?"

"In about an hour. I'm gonna hop into the shower now and put some nice clothes on."

"Alright, Tati and I will be taking care of our grumpy Cassandra."

Cassandra glared at Lussuria. "I hope you drown in the shower, Luss."

"Don't worry. I'm stronger than the shower." And with that he hurried out of the closet.

The following hour was utter torture, at least for Cassey, who wanted nothing more than a good night's sleep and a lot of booze.

A LOT of booze.

Alenya and Tati tried their best at cheering her up, but it was in vain. Cassandra simply refused to cheer up and instead continued sending death glares at her dress.

"It'll be a lot of fun, I guess. There'll be a bunch of people you know, Cassey." Tati smiled at her.

At first Cassey hadn't noticed, but now she was pretty sure that Tati and Alenya were in love, but she didn't dare to ask. She'd never been good with figuring out whether people were straight or not.

Tati was shorter than Cassey and had short, dark brown hair. She wore a light blue dress that was about the same length as Alenya's dress and, just like Alenya, looked gorgeous, which made Cassandra a bit depressed, as she felt like a giant fluffy bird and this bird was about to be thrown into a cage full of hungry cats. Great. She was going to die and a lot of dumb bitches would trample over her corpse and their heels would gouge her eyes out and...Cassandra shook her head. She was definitely watching too many horror movies.

"I'm ready~ " Lussuria entered the closet once more, beaming a smile at the three women and before Cassey could defend herself in any way, Lussuria, Alenya and Tati had dragged her out of the apartment and into the already waiting black car.

As the car made its way through the traffic, Cassandra was sure she was going to die at that ball. Really. She was going to die.

* * *

_So...my present to you is another chapter =)_

_I wish you a very merry Christmas and a lot of awesome presents =) Well...at least to the ones that ARE celebrating Christmas. Everyone else should have a nice time anyway =)_

_Reviews~  
_


	13. Here we go

_It was a warm summer night in a mansion on the outskirts of Palermo. 17-year old Cassandra Janson was lying on a bed, unconscious. Next to said bed sat a grumpy Xanxus. To be honest, it was hard to tell whether he was grumpy or not, since he was always scowling. He tried his best to look like he didn't give a damn about the fact that there was an unconscious, beautiful girl lying on the bed – on HIS bed – and seemingly flipped through a magazine on his lap. He could have fooled anyone who wasn't out to take a closer look at the scene, but, to tell the truth, he was actually holding the magazine upside down. He remembered her face. She was that puny assassin who had killed all those fucktards. Really, how could a bunch of men let themselves get killed by a girl that was about half their size? Xanxus moved closer to the bed. Her eyes were still closed, but he remembered them to be green. Her hair was long and golden and it made her look so different from all the other girls who either had dark or bleached hair which looked incredibly fake. He had just returned to starring at the magazine, when he heard her groaning._

_Cassandra slowly swam back into consciousness. This room didn't seem familiar and the distant sound of people chatting and music playing didn't seem right. She remembered arguing with Reborn about going to the party, but then she sort of blacked out. Cassey lay there for a moment before it hit her. Reborn couldn't have knocked her out and-_

_She didn't think any further, when she noticed, that she was actually wearing a dress. _

_"Oh…fuck me!" was all she said. _

_The poor assassin actually thought she was all alone in the room, until someone else spoke. _

_"Was that an invitation?" _

_Cassandra sat up with a jolt and, for a brief moment, starred at the dark haired man sitting beside the bed. Feathers, beads…it was HIM! The bastard that had called her 'puny'! She didn't want to be in a room with him, so Cassandra got off the bed. Well, at least she tried to, because, obviously, she hadn't quite regained control over her limbs and, instead of elegantly getting out of bed, fell out of bed. Face first._

_Xanxus could barely contain his laughter as she fell out of bed, which gave him a nice view of her ass and panties. Hello Kitty? How old was she? Twelve? Well, if she were twelve she'd certainly be the twelve-year-old with the biggest boobs in Italy. Anyway, her ass looked quite nice._

_Cassandra noticed him starring at her butt. Okay, that was it! Enough! She scrambled to her feet. "You…impotent bastard!" He looked angry, but she didn't care. She didn't wait for his reaction either and instead left the room. Reborn was so dead!_

"Oi, Cassey. What are you dreaming about?" Lussuria smiled at her.

"Oh, nothing in particular."

"Really? You were grinning from ear to ear."

"Am I not supposed to grin? Shall I go back to being grumpy?"

"No! Keep grinning!"

Cassandra chuckled. Why did she have to think of THAT night anyway?

"Luss, when will we be there?" Cassandra continued starring out of the window. The car wasn't moving at all!

"I dunno. It's gonna take some more time. Seems there was an accident just ahead."

"Oh…" She could barely fight back a chuckle as a woman slapped her boyfriend and started gesturing wildly while yelling at him. Italians and their temper~ Usually, Cassandra didn't give a damn about prejudices, but Italians really DID gesture more than most people. Even Xanxus did so when he was ranting about, well, everything and thus always made her laugh. He was so intimidating, but not when he was ranting. Really. She had thought about catching one of his rants on tape and posting it all over the internet. Cassey had no doubts that the video would go viral in less than a day, should she ever post a video like that.

The car moved slowly through the streets of Rome and the lack of speed made Cassandra think of slugs. She shuddered unconsciously at the thought of those tiny, slimy…things.

"Cassey? Are you cold?" Alenya looked worried, so did Tati.

"Hell no! It's freaking warm."

Alenya and Tati gave each other an all knowing glance and, simultaneously, hugged her.

"You need human warmth!" Declared Tati, who hadn't spoken much during the last hours.

"Guys, I'm alright." Cassandra tried to fend them off, but it was in vain. They didn't let go.

"Let her breathe or else Xanxus will kill you both!" Remarked Lussuria jokingly and as if 'Xanxus' and 'kill' had been the secret combination to unlock their suffocating hug, both let go.

"I'm not gonna mess with Xanxus. I may mess with my brother, but not with him." Mumbled Alenya and Tati nodded in silence.

"He's not gonna kill anyone, unless you give him a reason." Cassandra shook her head. People obviously thought Xanxus was a raving lunatic. Well, okay, he WAS insane and emotionally crippled, but not always raving. Maybe once or twice a month, but not ALL the time.

"Well…he tried to kill the kid that's supposed to be the Tenth, remember? I don't think he actually gave him a reason."

"He wanted to be the boss as well. It sounds like a pretty good reason to try to kill someone."

"…Could it be that you're just as fucked up as he is?"

"If I were sane, I would cower in fear whenever I'd see him, so…I think I'm just as fucked up." Cassandra flashed a smile at Alenya who laughed in return.

"Well, I shouldn't badmouth fucked up people. My brother's worse than you and Xanxus."

Tati looked at Alenya with an expression that clearly said 'Are you insane? Two of his colleagues are sitting opposite us!'.

"C'mon, Tati. We all know Squalo can be a pain in the ass. Lussuria and I know that all too well…" The assassins started laughing, which somehow seemed to make Tati feel less frightened.

"You're right. He IS a pain in the ass…and he has a sister complex." Answered the small brunette. Cassey raised an eyebrow at that.

"Squalo…has…a…sister complex?" Then she laughed. Hard.

"He once beat up a guy, who wanted to go out with me." Alenya started starring out of the window. Yup, that sounded just like Squalo.

"Well…, he'll get used to it. If not, I'll kick his ass and that's a promise." All of them laughed at Cassey's promise and then they fell silent. Tati was the first to speak again.

"Look! We're there!"

* * *

_Does a 'Sorry for me bieng a lazy bum' count as an excuse this time?_

_I hope this chapter could make up for the long wait o.O_

_Reviews are always welcomed with a hug and cookies =3  
_


	14. Follow me

_Okay...WARNING! CHAPTER CONTAINS SWEARING (although not that much)...DON'T READ THIS TO YOUNG CHILDREN UNLESS YOU WANT THEM TO LEARN HOW TO SWEAR!_

* * *

They obviously were there. The building had "MAFIA" practically written all over it. Except for the fact that it looked like a roman palace, which always was a giveaway for the Sicilian Mafia, there were a lot of black, over-priced cars outside. On the steps that led up to the entrance Cassandra spotted a lot of women in dresses, who looked absolutely gorgeous.

"Luss..please, let me stay in this car and get back to the apartment." Whined Cassandra as the car came to a halt in front of the staircase.

"No way! I went through the trouble of putting you into that dress, so now you're gonna show it off a little." He took her by the hand and pulled her out of the car.

She let herself get dragged up the stairs and, just as she was about to enter the building, glanced back to the car as it drove off. She was definitely doomed.

Meanwhile, Xanxus was standing inside the hall filled with overly happy people. Why was he here anyway? Okay, the fag had called and told him there was a surprise waiting for him here. So…where was the surprise? He took another sip of his tequila, his third glass actually, and looked, okay, glared at all people in the room. Why did they seem so happy to have others around them? And why were all of them bragging about how awesome their respective family way? If Lussuria didn't show up soon, he'd either need a lot more tequila or he'd seriously need to get out of here.

"Pissed off?"

Xanxus didn't turn to the person who had just spoken to him. He honestly didn't care who was standing there next to him, as long as the person didn't start jabbering about random shit.

"Thoroughly."

"Where did you get the tequila?"

"Asked a servant to bring me some."

"Asked or threatened to kill them if they didn't bring you any?"

"…The latter."

The person chuckled.

Waiiiiit…, that sounded way too familiar. Xanxus turned his head and almost choked on his Tequila.

"Cassey?"

"Yup, it's me."

"How..? Why…?"

"Lussuria made me come. Before he shoved me in here, he told me something about me being a surprise. The 'Why' is a completely different matter and I'm not willing to answer it right now."

Xanxus gulped. Okay, something had happened, but she didn't want to talk. Obviously.

"Where's the fag?" Asked Xanxus casually, just to change the topic.

"I think outside making out with some hot guy from the Bologna Family."

"What?"

"Lussuria is making out with-"

"The 'What' was referring to the fact that he was making out with a HOT guy. How do you know he was hot?"

"Well…I looked at him?"

Xanxus grumbled at this. Okay, his girlfriend thought another guy looked hot. Maybe he should just break it off. She was not supposed to think of other men as hot, even if they were obviously gay. At least that's what he had read…in one of those magazines about bodybuilding he'd found in Lussuria's room at the HQ.

"Xanxus, seriously, you shouldn't think about breaking up with me, just because I said a GAY guy was hot."

"Get out of my head!"

"Oh, c'mon. Reading your thoughts is my only joy at times like this. Don't make me quit!" Cassey pouted and Xanxus couldn't hold back. He felt weird, so he laughed, which actually made some people stare at him, as though he was about to devour them.

Two hours, 10 bottles of tequila, 20 bottles of bear and two bottles of rum later, Cassey was positively drunk. Okay, maybe the number of drinks was exaggerated, but counting was not even close to possible for Cassey. How nice the world could be, once you were drunk enough. Even the ball seemed to be fun and having Xanxus by her side added to the overall positive atmosphere. She looked around the dancing and chatting people. Over there, on the dance floor was Lussuria, dancing with some guy. Wait. Not SOME guy. That was the guy from the apartment, wasn't it? She wasn't entirely sure, but didn't care to further investigate the matter. Alenya and Tati were dancing as well. Haha…they were soooooo dating. And over there…

"Hey, Xanxus. See the guy with the brown hair and the big scar running across his nose?"

She felt Xanxus, who was currently leaning his head onto hers, nod.

"Okay, and the three guys next to him?"

Another nod.

"They are aaaaall from the Janson Family. Bet my uncle send them out to kill me and if he didn't send them for that purpose, they'll kill me anyway once they see me, 'cause killing me is an order he gave to eeeeveryone." She 'd kill her and that thought seemed funny.

Suddenly, Cassey felt Xanxus' whole body getting tense.

"Oi…what's wrong?" She looked up at him through hazy eyes. The alcohol was really kicking in.

"They want to kill you?" He sounded so grave, that is was hard not to laugh.

"Yup. Kill me." She noticed, she was slurring a bit, but that was just alright. Perfectly comfortable with the situation, she nestled up against Xanxus.

Then, much to her surprise, he pulled her up by her hand and left the ball.

"Hey! Where are we going?" He didn't answer. The air outside was cold, compared to the warmth that had enveloped her just some seconds ago and Cassandra shivered.

"Xanxus!"

He stopped for a moment and turned around.

"What?"

"Where are you taking me? Did anything happen?"

"You're drunk. I'll tell you once you're sober enough to remember something." He pulled her to a big, black car. "Get in."

"Why?" She noticed him looking in the general direction of the mansion and attempted to turn around to look, but he just shoved her into the passenger's seat, although she was protesting.

Xanxus took off faster than Cassey would have liked him to. She was about to tell him to slow down, when a bullet hit the wing mirror on her side.

"Fuck! Get down, Cassey!"

"But I can help!"

"You can't! You're fucking drunk, so get the fuck down and try not to get hit, understood?"

She grudgingly huddled up in the foot space. More shots, but this time Xanxus fired back at their pursuers. The shots made her ears ring and she clapped her hands over them. Anyway, the shots were clearly audible and with each shot, Cassey flinched every time one reached her ears and gave her the feeling of her eardrums being on the verge of bursting.

Something warm and wet dripped on her face. She opened her eyes and traced the trail of the liquid with her fingers. Red. Blood. Wait, blood? She looked at Xanxus. His shoulder was bleeding. Cassey could see the small holes the bullet had left by entering and exiting the body. The blood kept running and Xanxus continued shooting at the pursuers, but Cassey was frozen in shock. Xanxus was bleeding. He was bleeding profusely! At once, she felt as sober as never before. She straightened herself up, took the gun from him without even listening to him ordering her to get down and leaned out of the smashed window on her side of the car. Cassey closed her eyes and gathered her senses. Once she had opened them, she was ready to take those guys out.

The first shot dodged a bullet that would otherwise have pierced her skull. Shot no.2 hit the guy with the scar, who was situated in the other car's passenger seat, right between the eyes.

One out. Three to go.

Another shot and the guy sitting on the right side of the backseat was down. By the weight of the gun, Cassey knew she had merely one shot left. Okay, there huge, old trees at the side of the road. A crash with one of those would certainly kill the driver instantly and at least injure the guy on the backseat gravely.

Her last shot hit one of the front wheels and send the car twirling around like an ice skater. All was silent. The only thing she could hear was her own, raging breath and the rushing of her blood. Cold. The air was cold, but crisp and her eyes fluttered shut the moment, she dropped into the seat. All of a sudden, her body felt heavy and while she drifted off to sleep, the gun, she had still held in her hand, fell to the floor with a soft rattle.

Xanxus lips curved into a smile. What an odd sight it was. A girl in a very fluffy dress with blood on her face and a gun lying on the floor. Really, that probably deserved the title 'Oddest scene I've seen in my life'. A low chuckle tried to make its way out, but the pain in his shoulder clubbed it to death. He'd need to take care of the wound soon, or else he'd risk an infection and the resulting, probably lasting, limited usability of his arm. Anyway, for now he needed to get back to the HQ, as fast as possible. Who knew what other people Berwald had send after them…

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_Haha! Finished!_

_So...okay...I'm changing the POV a couple of times in this chapter, but I hope it's clear who's POV I'm taking in which part o.o Otherwise, don't hesitate to ask and to tell me that I screwed up XD_

_Hope you enjoyed it and...okay...leave some reviews *_*  
_


	15. Tactfulness can be helpful

_So...new chapter is up :3 Sorry it took so long ^^"_

_Hope this chapter makes up for the long wait ^w^_

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Cassandra slowly opened her eyes. Sun. She shielded her eyes with her hand.

"Thank God. You're awake. Was getting fucking boring with no one to talk to."

She blinked at the man sitting in the driver's seat. "Xanxus?"

"Did you expect someone else?"

"Not really." She gave a sleepy smile and tried to sit comfortably in her seat.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, but I had a really strange dream."

Xancus gave her a questioning look, so she continued to tell him.

"My uncle found out about us and then he made my sister think that I was giving information to you. So…she vowed on our father's grave to…kill me. I was so shocked that I ran away. Then there was this old geezer, Claude, who told me about his life, which was quite horrible and, then I boarded a train to Palermo. I…called Sara and asked her to send me all the information on Julian Druzhinia she could lay her hands on. So…when she called me back, she was shot by my mother and that bitch told me she'd find me and kill me and all the ones close to me, so I threw away my mobile. And then I…I smoked a lot and when the train stopped in Rome, I went to Luss who made me wear a fluffy dress and dragged me to a ball."

She chuckled. Really, what a freaky dream!

"So…at the ball I met you and we drank quite a lot. I don't know about you, but I was really drunk. Then there were these people from the Janson family and they chased us. Since I was drunk you told me to do nothing and I curled up in the foot space. But then you were shot in the shoulder and you were bleeding and then I freaked out and killed the guys."

Xanxus stared at her, which made her feel more than just uncomfortable. It was unnerving and somehow he seemed to ask her something among the lines of 'Are you fucking dumb?'.

"Cassey…listen." Xanxus drove off the street and stopped the car.

She really looked confused. Did she not remember anything? He ran his fingers through his hair, closed his eyes and sighed. Okay, he'd need to be as gentle as possible, since she obviously thought all those things had merely been a bad dream. Okay, he could definitely understand why she'd want them to be nothing but a bad dream, but he'd not let her have this delusion.

"All those things really happened. Your family's after you, Sara's dead, you were piss drunk and I was shot. Oh, and you took out those bastards who followed us." That counted as gentle, didn't it?

For a while he didn't even dare to look at her. Would she be mad? Would she cry? Oh please, if there was a God out there, he should not make her cry right now. After all, Xanxus didn't know how to handle crying people.

Cassey stared blankly out of the window. So it hadn't been a dream? It was all bitter reality? She bit her tongue and pinched herself. Physical pain numbed the pain that was preying on her very soul. But...she was responsible for Sara's death! She was the one at fault!

Cassey pinched her arm harder. She was not giving in to the tears. Not again. Not now. Not in front of Xanxus! Not...

Cassey unsuccessfully tried to hold back a sob. She was at fault. She was at fault. She was at fault. She was at fault! The tears spilled from her eyes, no, they poured like the rain during the Japanese summer.

"Oh fuck, no." Xanxus stared at Cassandra, who sat there literally crying her eyeballs out. "Fuck! Calm down, Cassey!"

Would he have been a lesser person, he might have frantically waved his hands, but since he was Xanxus, the leader of the Varia, he didn't wave his hands. Instead, he ran his fingers through his hair once more. He knew what to do when he was tied to a pole with a bomb around his waist. Xanxus knew what to do in case he was confronted with tons of enemies and he knew what to do to make others tremble in fear. Sadly, he didn't know how to comfort a crying person.

"Cassey...you've killed others before, so it's no big deal and that your family would chase you once you'd leave was fucking obvious!" That would calm her down, wouldn't it? He waited for the whimpers and sobs to die down, but they continued. God, he was screwed. How was he supposed to deal with a crying Cassandra? Men didn't cry. Women did. They were complicated and tricky.

Cassandra tried to stop her tears from pouring down, but was unable to even think straight. She was at fault. It was all her fault. Hadn't she asked Sara for help, the geek would still be alive and kicking, but she had asked and thus had her signed up for M's list. Something heavy started patting her head and ruffling her hair. Xanxus? She turned to look at him, her vision blurred with tears.

"Xanxus...it's my fault." Her voice was shaking, so was her body. Cassey could see the sun outside. She could smell it, but somehow the warm rays didn't reach into the car. Like it was a no-no to make her feel warm and cosy.

"What's your fault?" His voice seemed to be far away. Like he was sitting across the street and still speaking in a normal voice. He sounded like he didn't quite get it. Like he was confused.

"Sara. It's my fault she's dead. I...I called her and asked her to send me some information and...M. M must have found out about Sara's address like that. So...M barged in and shot her. And...I was on the phone when it happened. It was so loud. It was...so...surreal. It was not supposed to be like that." The patting stopped instantly.

Why? Why did it stop? Was he disappointed? Did she do something wrong? Another sob shook her body to the core. After all, it still hurt.

"C'mon, Cassey. Get a hold of yourself!" Xanxus knew that he shouldn't yell or be loud, but he just couldn't take it any longer.

This was too much. Okay, Sara was dead. Where was the problem? He just couldn't figure it out. Why did Cassey fucking cry over something as mundane as that?

"Geez, you're an assassin. You KILL people for money. So why do you cry like a fucking baby when a friend of yours gets killed? The geek should have paid more attention to proper alarm devices instead of World of Warcraft and her Guild!" That had obviously calmed her down. After all, the crying had stopped.

For a moment, Cassey thought that her ears had been tricking her. Xanxus didn't just say that she should stop mourning her friend's death, which was entirely her fault, because her friend didn't invest enough in security stuff. Then she realised, that her brilliant boyfriend actually had contributed something as insensitive as that to their conversation and anger took over.

"Say that again, Xanxus." She sounded calm, but on the inside, her anger was boiling. He fists were clenched and she gritted her teeth. Idiot! Fucktard! Bastard! Moron!

She looked at him and could see the realisation creep into his eyes.

"Oh fuck..." was all he could obviously bring himself to say.

"Yes, Xanxus. 'Oh fuck'. I'll walk to Palermo, you asshole!" She half kicked, half pushed open the door and got off the car.

Cassandra heard Xanxus call after her, but she didn't care. She needed to get away from the car, the memories and...him. Yes, she needed to get away from Xanxus. Her life had been just alright, before he barged in and messed her life up. No, he didn't mess her LIFE up. All he did was messing up her heart. That couldn't be healthy.

Cassandra felt the soft warmth of the morning sun crawl up her arms. Where was her dress? Why was she wearing jeans and a plain t-shirt? "Hmmm...Xanxus must have changed my clothes while I was sleeping." She mumbled, while she walked through the deserted landscape. It was nice having no one around.

"Fuck!" Xanxus beat his fists against the steering wheel.

"Fuck it all!" He beat the wheel once more. Thankfully, it didn't break.

"Why is she pissed? Why?" Xanxus didn't get it. He was right. She killed people for money, so why would she mourn a 'friend' like that. In the Mafia there were no friends. Everybody was a potential enemy. Everyone! Well, maybe except for Cassandra who'd never betray him. But...one could never be sure.

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_This is it for now. Got a lot of projects and exams coming up, so it'll probably take longer for the next chapter to be finished...again ó.Ò_

_Thanks to all of you for waiting so long and thanks to the CC, who posted a comment just a few hours ago, telling me to download OpenOffice ;) Still not used to it, but it works :D_

_See ya~_


	16. Chapter 16

Cassandra had been walking for quite some time when she found a nice place under a tree, where she sat down and dozed off.

Xanxus hadn't moved since Cassandra had left. Instead he had been racking his brain to find a reason for his girlfriend's behaviour.

"I was just being honest. Why is being honest obviously wrong?" mumbled the Italian and let his head drop back against the headrest.

Women were complicated. Too complicated. Just like his mother used to be. Good thing the old man had brought her into an asylum. It was for the best, but his mother was now definitely not the problem. Maybe he should go out and search for Cassandra. It was not safe to wait any longer to drive on. With a heavy sigh, he got out off the car and started looking for his girlfriend. Women were really troublesome...

Cassandra didn't dream. For her, dreams were scarse and precious. Something assassins like her were not worthy of. It had been this way ever since her father passed away. Back then she stopped dreaming to stop remembering the moment the bullet had pierced her father's skull and-

Her thoughts always stopped at that point. She never dared to think any further. Instead, she clung to all the happy memories she could find in her past. The laughter she had shared with her friends all over the world, her little sister who once loved to run around the garden and climb up every tree available.

Cecilia...Cassey didn't want to think about her as well. To be honest, she didn't want to think at all, but her brain always did the thinking all on its own. Without her permission.

The thoughts kept running back and forth in her brain and, with a sound that resembled a groan, Cassandra swam back into conscience. There was no living creature to be seen. Good, because had there been someone or something , she might have either strangled it or caught its attention by crying for no obvious reason.

Xanxus looked up into the sky. It was already past noon and there was no trace of Cassey.

"Fuck it all!" he grumbled as he continued his search. In the far off there were a couple of trees. Then it hit him. Cassey would be there beneath the tree. She loved trees and, since she wasn't used to the 'heat', she'd most likely me resting in the cool shadow. "Nordic by nature, I guess." thought Xanxus to himself, as he made his way over to the trees.

"Don't you DARE coming near me, you insensitive BASTARD!" yelled the blonde assassin, as soon as she had spotted Xanxus in the far off.

Her whole body was shaking with anger, but, appearantly, her beloved boyfriend didn'd even bother to listen to her...request. He could be such an idiot! Why was she even bothering to love him? Why?

Okay, he could be surprisingly soft and gentle with her and, even though he never actually said it out loud, she could feel his love for her. A look was enough to make her go weak in the knees and to make her heart skip a beat. DAMN! She was like a teenager in love. She was a grown woman, so...love should have felt different! At least she had always thought of it like that and still, she stayed with Xanxus. She even came here to live with him. To be there for him and to have him support her.

With a sigh, she slumped down on the floor. She could already feel the upcoming headache. All thanks to that wonderful bastard!

Xanxus fought back a smile when he got closer. There she was after all. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, something she only did in case of a headache.

"Need an aspirin?"

"Yes, thanks to you and my fucking crybaby-ness!" Cassandra didn't even bother to look up at Xanxus, since she could already pircture his smirk. Strangely, she wasn't really angry anymore. A strange feeling of sad numbness had settled in her heart. She knew that feeling all too well and she knew it was bound to stay for a while.

"Yes, I know. I'm an insensitive bastard. You already told me that and probably every other person in a range of about 5 miles."

"And I'm right." she lifted herself off the floor, ignoring the hand Xanxus offered her.

"Depends on the point of view." Xanxus had noticed Cassey defiantly ignoring his help. She was not as angry as back in the car, but some sort of weird female anger was still there.

They walked back to the car in silence.

"She really is pissed off." thought Xanxus, as he, in one of his nicer moments, opened the car's door for Cassey. Maybe that would sooth her, so they could have sex tonight. It had been too long since the last time.

Cassey glaced over at her boyfriend, who appeard to be lost in some fantasies. Yes, she wasn't that angry anymore, but that didn't mean she would just forget about it. He'd suffer. He really would and Cassey knew well, what made a grown man like him suffer the most.

No sex!

She snickered to herself as her inner devil laughed demonicaly. Suffer! Suffer, Xanxus!

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_Me is back :D_

_Hope you liked this chapter even though it's been so long since the last ^^"_


	17. Independence Day

_/.../ = thoughts_

_Enjoy the chapter :)_

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The Varia mansion.

Cassandra gulped when the car came to a halt in front of the staircase which led to the front door. Though "door" was most likely an understatement. The "door" was big enough to give two obese elephants easy access to the lobby behind.

"Are you gonna get out the car today or shall I bring down a blanket so you can sleep in here tonight?" said Xanxus, effectively startling Cassey.

"I think I prefer sleeping inside." mumbled Cassandra as she stepped outside, stretching her tired muscles and taking a deep breath.

Warm. The air smelled of summer and the sea and of…

"Do I smell Cannoli?" her mood lit up almost immediately. Cannoli were one of her favorite dishes. Pastry tubes filled with sweet cream, could it get any better? Cannoli were the first thing she'd eaten when she got to Italy. Not pizza, not pasta, simply Cannoli. With Dino. On a street market in Palermo. Good times, good times.

"Maybe. Don't know." was all Xanxus said, before he went up the stairs. Half way up the Italian noticed, that Cassey wasn't following him. "You coming?" he fought back the urge to roll his eyes in annoyance. How could an ASSASSIN space out all the time? Concentration was crucial. Important. Vital!

"What? Oh…wait up…I'm coming." Innocence. She was practically oozing innocence from every pore. No wonder the police NEVER suspected her when it came down to it. He had to admit though, she was cute.

A few minutes later Cassey already found herself pressed into the mattress of Xanxus' ridiculously large bed. If he wanted sex, he'd have to suffer first, though.

"Get off!" She tried to push him off, which, given her slender build and profound want of muscles, didn't work the way she'd planned it. Instead, it made Xanxus even hornier than before.

"Don't try to resist. You'll give in anyway." She could feel his breath on her neck. He certainly knew how to convince her that sex was all she wanted. But not today. Today she'd refuse. She couldn't give up on her revenge. Oh Gods below, he wasn't really nibbling on her ear, was he? An even weaker spot than her neck.

"I don't want to have sex, you moron!" her voice was but a squeal. Damn it! She could already feel his…arousal through his pants and hers. It was definitely time to take her leave. It definitely was!

_/Think Cassey! Think! You need to worm your way out of this! How could you get him to let go of your hands for a few moments?/_

A very comic-esque light bulb popped up next to her head.

"Xanxus…" she brushed her leg against the tent in his trousers "Please, let me undress myself today…"

Xanxus almost immediately went completely still. How easy men were to manipulate. She was wondering whether she should try it again and maybe add a little moan at the end, just to get her message across, when the oh-so-dominant leader of Varia let her wrists, which he had held nicely pinned above her head, go. Cassey had to suppress a small smile. In your face, Xanxus! Dominant, eh? This had certainly been topping-from-the-bottom. Maybe she could rub this in later. Just to piss him off a bit. She sat up slightly and slowly lifted her t-shirt. After all, she had to keep up the guise a little longer, so he'd be completely dumbfound when she left.

Casey let the soft fabric slide up to reveal the lower half of her bra. This would do nicely. By now Xanxus would be most likely focused on her boobs, which would make his reactions slow down incredibly. Now she only needed to wait for that hazy look her got whenever he lost control of his neurological functions.

_/Wait for it. Wait for it. There we go!/_

She couldn't stop her lips from curving upwards. In a swift and fluent motion, she rolled off the bed and strode over to the door. Turning to face her dumbfounded boyfriend, she let her t-shirt slide back down to cover the tattoo on her back.

"While I'm off you should try to think about what you've done. 'Til you accomplished that: No sex!" She slammed the door shut. It was time to get back on her own feet. She'd been dependant on others for far too long. She'd been endangering others for far too long.

Step One: Get a flat.

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_I think you already got it ^^" If you didn't, I'll now do the work for you: Me = lazy bum_

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter :) Reviews are hoped for ^_^_


	18. Step One: semi accomplished

_Another chapter :)_

_Enjoy ^_^_

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**Chapter 18**

Getting a flat in Italy was nothing like getting a flat in Germany. Except maybe for the part where you read every local newspaper available, study the take-a-phone-number-with-you-flat-share-handouts and walk around the city constantly looking for a "For Rent" or "For Sale"-sign.

Luckily, Cassey had met Lussuria on her way out, so she at least had her passport with her. Even a fake one, just in case she needed to get off the radar.

"Darling, you could stay here with Xanxus He'd be overjoyed. We'd be happy too." the flamboyant gay had announced, pouting but handing her the bag she'd left in his apartment in Rome nonetheless.

"Luss, I can't stay close to someone for long. It's like eating chocolate every day, after a while it's just no longer special." Had been her answer and then she'd wandered off to Palermo, in search of a flat or at least a place to spend the time until she got a proper flat in.

Finding a flat proved to be troublesome. There was a nice one for rent near the Instituto Comprensivo Giovanni Falcone in Via Ernesto Basile. She liked the irony of life that would come with living in that flat. Giovanni Falcone had been fighting against the Mafia and a sub-family of Vongola had assassinated him. Pity, she liked the idea of a world without organized crime, even though she was part of it.

After looking at the flat in Via Ernesto Basile, Cassandra was utterly fed up. How she loathed Italian bureaucracy! Forms, forms and more forms to fill in, before you were able to legally rent a freaking flat! Even German bureaucracy was easy compared to that!

With a groan, she flopped down on a bench on the university grounds not too far from the flat in the Viale delle Scienze. Screw those students who looked at her like she was a fucking alien. She needed that bench and she really needed some decent food. Preferably soon.

"_Sei nuovo qui?_" said a boy about her age and sat down next to her, not able to take his eyes of her chest.

"_Io non studiare qui. Smamma, mammone!"_

"_Sei molto amica…_"

"_Lasciami stare!_"

"_Lasciai __belle __donne __non __si __riposano __mai_."

"Boy, if I were you, I'd leave her alone. Her boyfriend is not to be taken lightly. Nor is her big brother, for that matter."

Both, Cassey and Mr. Oh-so-charming turned their heads to look at the intruder, though they probably turned for different reasons. Mr. Oh-so-charming-and-boob-obsessed probably turned to see who was disturbing his complete and utter failure at hitting on a girl, Cassey turned to greet the only person in the whole wide world to call her their little sister.

Dino.

An hour, five glasses of coke and at least eight _pane __e __panelle _later, Cassandra had managed to basically explain her current situation. Dino, who had patiently listened and stopped her from hitting her head on an innocent lamp post when they had been walking the streets, was now staring blankly at the glass in his hand, instead of at least giving her some sort of brotherly advice.

"Dino…did I bore you to death or are you simply fascinated by your EMPTY glass?"

"It's just hard to give you any advice at all. You just told me that you have a relationship with the, in my opinion, worst possible man to have a relationship with! The only advice I can come up with right now is 'Ditch him! PLEASE!'." He waved his hands around frantically, forgetting he still had an empty glass in his hand, which reminded him of its presence by sliding from his grip and colliding with the ceiling.

"That's not an option. I just…need to get a flat, furniture and all that preferably soon."

"Well…you could still stay at my place for some time."

"Did you, by any chance, miss out on the 'I've become too dependent.'-part of my little monologue?"

More staring ensued and neither of them spoke.

"Cassey, please, try to explain me why you think YOU are too dependent. I seriously doubt your ability to judge that."

"Well, I doubt yours. You're probably thinking that, by IWSB, I'm – "

"Sorry…by what?"

"IWSB. Italian women standard behavior. And yes, I just came up with that."

"Okay, continue."

"So…you probably think that I am independent. Horribly so. But, for my standards, I'm still too dependent. On you. On Sara. On Xanxus. In general on everyone out there and, you see, that's dangerous, because when I depend on others, I might, sooner or later, become attached to them, which will make them something akin to that tiny patch of vulnerable skin Sîfrit had."

"You're saying you'll endanger them by being close to them?"

"Yup."

"Just so I get this right, you think you are a danger to all your friends?"

"I already said yes."

He sighed and shook his head. A gesture which reminded her of some weary old man, which he probably was in some warped way. After all, he led a Famiglia, and not a puny weak baby-Famiglia at that.

"Cassey, we all endanger each other, you know? I endanger you, Xanxus endangers you, hell, even your father – "

"Would you mind keeping my father out of this?" interrupted the assassin "Still a touchy subject. Don't want to talk about it."

"Sorry."

More silence, but Cassey, who was never all that comfortable with silence, refused to talk again. Throwing her father into a conversation or argument always made her feel some twisting, sickening pain in her guts.

She stared out of the window of the café for a while, watching the people walking by, laughing, having fun and being as ignorant as possible concerning all sorts of important matters.

"Oi, let's make a deal. You stay at my house, til you find a flat of your own. I'll help you get the forms filled in properly and getting some furniture. In turn you get yourself a mobile, so I can call and so you can call Xanxus before he starts murdering his subordinates because he can't find you."

She regarded him wearily for a moment. He was really trying to help her. He really was. An unusual sentiment bubbled up and she reached across the table to hug him. There were no words to tell him how grateful she was for his help.

"_Danke,__Dino._"

"_Kein __Ding, __Kleine._"

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_Now for some translations ^^"_

_1)"__Sei nuovo qui?_" - Italian for "Are you new here?"

_2)"__Io non studiare qui. Smamma, mammone!"_ - Italian for "I don't study here. Piss off, mummy's boy!"

_3)"__Sei molto amica…_" - Italian for "You are very friendly..."

_4)"__Lasciami stare!_" - Italian for "Leave me alone!"

_5)"__Lasciai __belle __donne __non __si __riposano __mai_." - Italian for "I never leave beautiful women alone." (hope Google didn't screw that up too much ^^")

_6) "Danke, Dino." - German for "Thanks, Dino."_

_7) "__Kein __Ding, __Kleine._" - German for "No problem, shortie."

___pane __e __panelle : Bread with fried cheese. Served as a snack in the streets of Palermo :)_

_Reviews are welcomed ^_^ And please, if you're older than...let's say 15, check out my other story, "The Dance of the Battle Maiden" :) It's a try to make something of my own :)_


	19. It backfired

****_So, this is the long awaited chapter 19. I hope you enjoy it :)_

WARNING: Contains swearing, a certain degree of violence, some German, a song text and beer! :D  


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**Chapter 19**

_"Onkel?"_

_"Ja?"_

_"Wie…so setzt sie alles aufs Spiel? Wieso setzt sie sich dieser Gefahr aus?"_

Berwald stared at the girl, sitting at the desk opposite his own. Her long hair was tied back in an equally long, but orderly ponytail and her blue eyes didn't even look up from the paperwork.

_"Weil deine Schwester verrückt ist."_

'Because your sister's crazy.' That described his other niece well enough. She was so much like his younger brother. She had the same eyes and the same….quirks.

And, much like his younger brother, she was the purest personification of imperfection.

Berwald's skin began to crawl at the thought of Cassandra and…Raphael. Imperfect idiots. Obsessed with freedom and….other childish believes which would never come true.

_"So verrückt ist sie nun auch wieder nicht, Onkel."_

_"Doch. Keine Widerrede."_

Cecilia sighed and went back to her paperwork. Her mother would handle the problem. She'd get rid of Cassandra in no time.

"M?"

The addressed spun around in her chair and stared at the man standing in the doorway. A smile slipped onto her features.

"Antonio." He voice was almost sickly sweet, but the man didn't seem to care. He stepped closer, his features obscured by the dim light in the small office.

"Bad news, M."

The woman stiffened instantly. She hated bad news. No, she LOATHED them.

"What's up?" M tried to appear as though she couldn't care less about bad news, even though, on the inside, she was going berserk. Something obviously went wrong.

"We lost track of her. She was last seen in Rome at a ball with Xanxus, the Varia boss. Some of Berwald's henchmen followed them but we have yet to find them. To sum things up, there's no way we could find her anytime soon." Antonio gulped. He knew M well enough to predict her reaction to something like this. In his opinion, she'd most likely smash something, start yelling and go on a small killing spree.

M clenched her fists, her knuckles making cracking sounds as she did so. How did that girl always manage to vanish?! HOW?

A dark urge bubbled in her guts. She had to.

"Antonio." Her voice was low, void of any feeling "Come over here."

Her hand closed around the hilt of her paper knife. She had to. Now. Otherwise she'd lose control.

M closed her eyes to keep herself in check. The rustling sound of someone moving closer on the carpet could be heard and a blissful smile crowned her lips. He was such a good man. Always doing her bidding.

"Please, expose your forearm, Antonio." She opened her eyes slowly and watched him roll up his sleeves to expose the olive skin. Wonderful.

The paper knife contrasted his skin perfectly and when the blood spilled from the wound the knife had created, a long lost sensation started pulsing through her veins. She drew patterns in the warm liquid, watching as her fingertips turned red and the coppery scent filled her nose.

"You may go now, Antonio. Go and get this fixed, then start looking for her. I want her dead as soon as possible." M smiled up at the man, who was trying hard not to twist his face entirely. The pain was surely a wonderful thing to have. After all, it numbed everything. What a pity no one ever hurt her. She really wanted that sensation.

"Cassey?" Dino's head popped in through the front door of the little apartment. Two months. Two months since Cassandra had come to Palermo. Two months since she'd last seen Xanxus. Neither of them apparently gave a damn. Apparently. Most likely, both of them were just wrapping themselves in their pride.

_/Mein Leben ist nicht cool, mein Leben ist ein Arschloch!_

_Dein Leben läuft gut, mein Leben läuft Amok!_

_Und egal was ich tu, mein Leben bleibt ein Arschloch!_

_Dein Leben läuft gut, mein Leben läuft Amok! /_

Kraftklub. He knew that song all too well.

"Cassey, would you mind turning the volume down so I don't need to yell at you?!"

"What?"

"VOLUME! DOWN! NOW!"

Reluctantly, the assassin turned the volume down. She liked the apartment. It was the only one in the whole building that was actually inhabited. Not an exact proof of quality, but it suited her just fine. No one around to complain about her loud music at three in the morning. Except for Dino maybe.

"Wassup, Dino?" How did smiling work again? Oh, right. You simply tugged the corners of your mouth up and showed your teeth in a non-threatening display of emotion.

Judging from Dino's horrified expression she wasn't doing too well. Maybe she should simply stick with being grumpy.

"Cassey, you need to talk to Xanxus. Go see him. Now!"

"Thank you for your kind advice, but NO. That wanker can go fuck himself." Cassey turned back to her TV, just to notice that her self-proclaimed brother had positioned himself right in her line of view.

"Dino…move. That soap opera is on. I want to watch it." She made a shooing motion with the remote, entirely unwilling to move from her spot on the couch.

"Oh, which one? Not that I ever watch something like that…"

He got a raised eyebrow for that. Cassandra had known Dino long enough to know that he adored soap operas. She had no clue why. She only watched them because there seemed to be nothing else on at three in the morning. Apart from porn.

"The one with that girl who's into that guy who's into her sister who is into her teacher who is into a supermodel who is into herself."

The tenth head of the Cavallone Famiglia actually emitted a high pitched sound akin to the sound of a distressed guinea pig.

"Oh, that's my FAVOURITE! Did Maria and Antonio already hook up in the back of Barbara's car?"

"Exactly how much free time do you have as head of the family?"

"As a matter of fact I do not have a girlfriend, which leaves me with a lot of long and lonely nights."

"Actually…I would recommend porn for that. Not soap operas."

"Cassey!"

"Dino!"

He appeared to be shocked. Utterly shocked.

"Was I too brash?"

"Yes. By Italian standards, yes!"

"Then I'll now pretend to be sorry for about five seconds, even though I'm actually not."

An awkward silence elapsed, while both of them stared at the screen.

"You want some beer?" Cassey looked over at Dino who was currently occupying half of her couch. What had they come to? Beer and soap operas at three in the morning, that felt just as ridiculous to Cassey as it probably looked to an outsider.

"Italian or German?"

"Italian. I bought the fancy one with Hitler on the bottle."

"You didn't." answered the Bucking Bronco flatly, looking her straight in the eye.

"I accidentally crushed three of those bottles on my way out, though. So, you want any non-Hitler-ed beer?"

"If it's Italian, no."

"Then I'll get one for myself."

Cassey was rummaging through her fridge, when Dino spoke up again: "Cassey, why are you refusing to talk to Xanxus?"

"He's a dick." Replied the kneeling assassin, who was ogling the cheese. Should she take it with her?

"He HAS a dick. And he's been in a murderous rage ever since you are refusing contact."

"Who's taking the brunt of it?"

"Mostly Squalo and Lussuria."

"Hmpf. Tell both of them I'm sorry, but I still won't talk to that douchebag."

"If I remember correctly you wanted REVENGE, by constantly getting him horny and then leaving him right there."

"That would end in something akin to spousal rape. Apart from that, THIS" Cassey waved the beer and the cheese at her surroundings, "this is far worse for him."

"And for everybody else."

"For goodness sake! He's not gonna kill any of his men. He might attack them or throw things at them, but he won't kill them." A sigh was all she got in response.

"Aren't you…?"

"Am I what?", she took a big sip of beer.

"Well…sex. Aren't you missing it too? Isn't this whole nonsense just as much of a torture for you."

"Dearest Dino, you know me too well. I should exterminate you post haste."

"So I'm right?"

Cassandra sat down on the couch again, gulped down half her beer and stuffed her mouth with cheese. He was definitely not hearing it from her mouth.

Her silence didn't bother Dino, though. Silence was enough of an answer to him. He got up and brushed imaginary dust from his trousers.

"Cassey, in this case I recommend porn." A giant smile adorned his face, as he left her apartment.

"As if that's going to make it any better. I'm avoiding it on purpose, jackass." Thought Cassandra to herself, as she settled back beneath her blanket.

* * *

_I'm back! Now for the translations :)_

_"Onkel?" - "Uncle?"  
_

_"Ja?" - "Yes?"  
_

_"Wie…so setzt sie alles aufs Spiel? Wieso setzt sie sich dieser Gefahr aus?" - "Why...is she risking everything? Why is she endangering herself like that?"_

_"So verrückt ist sie nun auch wieder nicht, Onkel." - "She's not all that crazy, uncle."  
_

_"Doch. Keine Widerrede." - "Yes, she is. No backtalking."_

For the song text: The song is called "Mein Leben" ('My Life') and is by the German group called Kraftklub. For a translation, please, use google and if you can't find anything there, just send me a message and I'll translate it then :)

Reviews are welcomed! ;)  



	20. Of bras, Finns and reconciliation

_Yes, I am alive. Enjoy the chapter. There are more to come soon. Some are already written and await my trusty beta-reader ;)_

WARNING: This chapter contains swearing (as per usual), sex (not too explicit) and violence. Do not read as bedtime story to your children/younger siblings/cousins/etc.!

* * *

**Chapter 20**

"Cassey! Darling! "

The German assassin already regretted opening the door. Why had she agreed to Lussuria coming over? Why?!  
"Hey, Luss."  
The fabulous peacock hugged her. This would be a long day.  
"You look sooo~ grumpy. I know just the cure for that", Lussuria winked.  
"Shopping is not the cure."  
"It is, darling. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Italian LOVE shopping and fashion."  
"I'm not Italian. I am not in Rome, I am in Palermo and I HATE shopping and fashion."  
"Don't be so grumpy. It'll cheer you up, I promise."  
"….fine. But no lingerie shops. I don't need any more bras."

Fifteen minutes later Cassandra found herself in a high-end lingerie shop.

"_I should learn to stick to my principles."_, was her one and only thought while a woman measured her chest.  
" You're lucky to be so busty. It's a well-filled E-cup."  
"Lucky?"  
"Yes, don't you think so?"  
"Nope."  
"Well, the grass on the other side is always greener, isn't it?", with that the woman and Lussuria started searching THE bra for Cassandra, who got dressed and flopped into a plushy armchair. This was hell. Just like the poofy dress back in Rome.  
She continued to name things that were hell, until Lussuria popped up in her field of vision, beaming like a 2-year-old with a lollipop.  
"This one would be PERFECT, darling!"  
A pink, lacey something wobbled into existence.  
"No. Just no."  
Lussuria now assumed the look of a 2-year-old who had dropped his lollipop into a litter box.  
"It's….pink. And…frilly. And….lacey!"  
The woman who had been so impressed by her rack, joined them and their conversation: "I see, you're a 'no nonsense"-woman. Something more elegant and subtle perhaps?"  
"Subtle, yes. I don't do elegant though."  
And off they went in search of something subtle, but not elegant.

Four hours of torture later, Cassey collapsed on her couch. Lussuria had dumped her outside of the complex and she had made her way up all by herself.  
The things she had been bullied into buying were somewhere in the vicinity of the door, as far as she could remember.  
"I should get them and stash them in the very back of my closet.", mumbled Cassey to herself.  
Or so she thought.  
"_Nein, das wäre Verschwendung._"  
Startled, Cassey jumped up, just in time to dodge a knife, which painfully cut into her hand. There weren't that many reflexes left after 4 hours of shopping with a gay Italian.  
She lashed out at the person standing right behind her couch.  
How could she have been so blind?!  
"Did M send you?"  
No response came from the attacker, instead he aimed a fist at her head. He was clearly no match for her. He lacked speed and tactic. All in all, he lacked everything an assassin would need to kill someone. Whoever he was, he was supposed to serve as cannon fodder.  
"Who are you?"  
Of course, no response, so Cassey tried something else. She feigned a kick to his gut, and when the hooded figure tried to dodge, she simply took him by the arms and, in one fluid motion, pulled down his hood.

"FINN?! _Bist du völlig behindert?!_"

The teen struggled against her grip, but Cassey didn't let go. What on earth was her youngest cousin doing in Italy, in her flat? And why would he be out to kill her?

"_Lass mich los, ey!_"  
"If you promise to stop killing me, you noob."  
"I'm not a noob!"  
"Yes, you are. Now sit down right there and tell me what the fuck you're doing here."  
The teenager crashed on the couch behind which he had been standing and crossed his arms over his chest.  
"I'm not gonna tell you."  
"You ARE going to tell me, kiddo. Now spill the beans. Who send you and why are you supposed to kill me?"  
She was greeted by stubborn, childish silence.  
"Listen, you just failed your assassination. You failed miserably, Finn. No matter WHO send you, that person is going to kill you anyway. You failed, you showed your face, you have valuable data that has to be destroyed."  
"Not everyone's like you.", he actually pouted and stared out of the window.  
"Come again? I think you just implied that I go around killing people who fail to murder someone. Just so you know, if I want someone dead, I do the dirty work myself. Only trust yourself, that's the code I live by."  
"Look at you! All wise and mighty."  
"Finn, you're barely out of your nappies and I can vividly remember you smearing your face with cold cream and running around naked, pretending to be a ghost."  
More silence.  
"Yep, I suppose stubbornness IS genetic in our family."  
"What do you know about family? You don't even have one. Everyone hates you. Even you hate yourself."  
"Wrong. I have friends, contrary to our uncle, who's a complete dick. But he didn't send you, because he's currently shitting bricks. After all I am by far more apt at eliminating people than his goons. But I hate myself, sometimes. You were right about that."  
"But your family hates you!"  
"Yes, they do. And you apparently hate me enough to plan to murder me, because travelling to Italy to murder someone clearly involves some degree of planning."

It was silent for a while after that and even when Cassey asked whether her guest-of-sorts wanted anything to drink, her answer was silence.

"They have my parents. And Lea."  
That sentence shattered the silence like a hammer would shatter a cup. Or a skull.  
So someone held his parents and his little sister for ransom and thus forced the boy into their service.  
"Who are 'they'?"  
"M and Cecilia."  
"_SCHEISSE!_", Cassey swore a blue storm for a while, before she calmed down.

"This is bad, Finn. This is REALLY bad. For how long have they had them?"  
"About a month."  
"And they didn't kill them yet?"  
"No, they let me talk to them just two days ago."  
"Wait…how did you find me?"  
"They told me your boyfriend lived on the outskirts of Palermo, so I just stuck around and waited for you to come out."  
"You're clever, but you should seriously work on your fighting skills. They suck major ass. ANYWAY, are you wired up? Do you have a phone with you right now?"  
"No, I left that all behind at the room I rented."  
"Good, but I'll still need you to change clothes. Just in case. And I seriously need to patch my hand up. This fucking hurts, you know?"  
"I am NOT going out wearing women's clothes."  
"Quit whining. I have some baggy jeans and a big shirt you can wear. Looks perfectly manly."  
"…where?"  
"Second drawer from the top. Left side. You won't miss it. Now hurry the fuck up, we need to go to someone."  
"To whom?"  
"The only person that could probably keep your sorry ass safe, boy."  
"Who would that be?"  
"My boyfriend."  
"You don't sound too happy to say that.", the teen went to the drawer and pulled out the clothes.  
"We are sort of on bad terms."  
"Was he mean?"  
"He is a dick, so I won't talk to him. But now I need to. You OWE me for that."  
"Sure…"

An hour later Cassey pulled up in front of the Varia mansion. No one was outside, but she was absolutely sure someone was on guard duty on the roof. Xanxus would probably know they were there. Great.

"This is a motherfucking PALACE, Cassey! How could you possibly refuse living here?! It's every girls childhood dream to live in a palace, isn't it?" Finn was awestruck by the sheer size of the building he saw for the first time.  
"My childhood dream was to sleep in a tent next to an excavation site and digging up dinosaurs."  
"You're weird."  
"Thanks for that, Finn."

They went up the stairs and trough the massive front gate. An elderly man, hunched over from years of hard work greeted them in the lobby.  
"Good evening, Miss Janson. Who is your young companion?"  
"Hey, Mr. Cornelo. That's my cousin, Finn Janson."  
"You are here to speak to…?"  
"Xanxus. I know where to go and don't mind calling in first. He'll be fine. I'll be fine. We'll all be fine. You just go and rest a bit.", she smiled at the old servant. This was why she found the Sicilian Mafia to be charming. They were so…old-fashioned.  
Mr. Cornelo bowed and went back in the general direction of the kitchens, while Cassey started up the stairs.  
"Move your ass, Finn. We better get this over with as quickly as possible."  
He hurried after her, as she strode through the carpeted corridors. She knew exactly where to find Xanxus' office and she also knew what would greet her the moment she opened the door, still, when she actually opened the door and Xanxus exploded with rage, it kind of caught her off guard.

"What the FUCK were you thinking, BITCH?!", yup, he hadn't changed.  
"I was thinking you're a dick."  
"That's no reason to go and do something like this. You could have called!"  
"You could have called too.", Cassey tried to keep her voice calm and low. No need to go to his level right now. She could yell at him later, without Finn cowering in fear in a corner.  
"What the ass-raping fuck is wrong with you, huh?!"  
"A lot. But I'm not here to discuss that. We can do that later, alright? You can yell at me and throw stuff at my head as much as you see fit later, okay? Right now there's something else to handle, so sit your ass down, calm the fuck down and listen for a moment!", she was nearly out of patience.  
It took about an hour to explain Finn's situation to Xanxus, because he kept threatening to murder the poor kid for hurting 'his fucking bitch' and he and Cassey spend a good amount of time yelling at each other to shut the fuck up and listen for a second.  
"So", Xanxus leaned back in his chair and buried his face in his hands, "I need to look after that scared brat over there?", he pointed at Finn, who seemed on the verge of having a mental break down from two assassins constantly yelling at each other and one of them threatening to kill him multiple times.  
"Yes, you need to look after him, until I manage to bail his family out."  
"Fucking great. Lussuria can do that."  
"I don't care WHO looks after him, but someone needs to be with him at all times."  
"Are you willing to do something for that protection?"  
"So you agree?"  
"Yes."  
"Then let's get Finn to a room and we discuss payment. He could use some rest."  
"…fine."  
Mr. Cornelo entered and Finn followed him off to the corridors. Both, Xanxus and Cassey, watched the door close in silence.

"Are you willing to pay in sex?", Xanxus was staring straight at Cassey.  
"Are you fucking kidding me? I'm still mad at you, asshole!"  
"I'm not gonna let you pay with money. I want some fucking sex. I have gone without for far too long."  
"Then go find a prostitute. I don't care, but I'm not whoring around to keep my cousin from danger, bastard."  
"I don't want any prostitute out there, I want you. Naked, moaning, right on my bed.", he walked around his desk and towered right in front of her.  
When Cassey tried to rise from the chair, he pushed her back down.  
"I really don't want to, Xanxus. I really don't. You were a downright jackass back then and I REALLY don't want to."  
"I think I've paid enough, don't you think so? It's been two months. Aren't you missing it?"  
"No."  
"Liar."  
"I don't lie."  
"Yes, you do. " he stroked the back of her neck with his hand.  
Sensitive spot. Cassey shivered.  
"I…don't miss it. I can go without for a long long time."  
"I think two months is a long long time, bitch."  
"Stop calling me that!"  
"But you are my bitch." He smirked as he pulled her to her feet and snaked an arm around her hips, thus pressing her closer.  
"Stop this. I don't want to, Xanxu-ah!" he was grinding his hips against hers. It felt good, she hadn't even realized how much she'd missed it.  
"Was that a moan?" the grin on his face grew even wider.  
"No-oh-mmmh." He began to kiss and nibble at her neck and exposed collarbone. Why did he know her sensitive spots and triggers so well?  
"That was definitely a moan, Cassey. Are you still against sex?"  
She was beginning to feel really hot.  
"Not…so…sure.", her throat was dry. She leaned forward against Xanxus' chest and took a deep breath. He smelled so good. Of gunpowder, leather and spices. She loved that scent.  
"Maybe we should take this to my bedroom. I think I can persuade you best in there."  
"Seems…like a good idea."  
He guided her through a side door to his room, all the while not letting go of her and keeping her close. She felt even hotter. He noticed once they'd closed and locked the door to his room.  
"Are you hot? Maybe you should shed some of your clothes." He smirked. She didn't care. Fuck revenge, fuck pride, she wanted to get fucked tonight.  
"Only if you do too.", she felt like she deserved some sort of award for this coherent sentence. She already knew it would probably be the last one for quite a few hours.  
He was still holding her close with the help of the arm-snake around her hips.  
"How about I undress you first and you get to undress me, when I tell you to."  
Cassey opened her mouth to protest, but he covered it with his other hand.  
"You owe me. So I get to decide."  
She nodded and prepared for clothes being ripped off her body. It didn't happen. Instead, Xanxus chose to slowly undress her.  
When he was done and her panties, the last stronghold of modesty, had found their way to the floor, he stood there for a moment, marveling, no doubts, her boobs.  
"Quit staring at mmmmh-my bo-oooh-bs.",was all she managed to get out in between moans, as he stroked her body. He was unusually gentle. Cassey didn't mind.  
"I like your boobs, so I'll stare at them." He kissed her and when Cassey broke the kiss to breathe, which got to be harder by the second, she could feel his erection.  
"Xanxus…maybe I should…get your friend out. It seems a bit uncomfortable."  
His answer wasn't a verbal one. He pushed her onto the bed and swiftly got rid of his clothes.  
"Oi! I thought I-"  
He shut her up with another kiss. More forceful than the last.  
"Change of plans, Cassey."  
Another kiss ravaged her lips and she let her hands trail down to Xanxus' second brain. She liked the path to that brain. It was bumpy from all the scars adorning his broad chest. Cassey liked the scars. There really wasn't anything she didn't like about Xanxus' body.  
She stroked his now naked erection gently. No use in hurting what provided her with so much pleasure. Cassey wondered how she had managed to go without all this for so long.  
Xanxus let out a startled groan as Cassey traced the veins with her fingers and softly rubbed the tip with her thumb.  
Yet, after a few moments, her brought her hand up again.  
"Let's get to the point. I hate beating about the fucking bush for too long." He grabbed his belt, which hadn't fallen all the way off the bed, "You're not going to run away this time."  
He quickly tied her hands to the head board. Cassey was breathing shallow breaths, while she waited for him to enter her. She loved sex for it provided her with a pleasant distraction from all the chaos around her.  
Xanxus bent down and kissed her. His tongue slid past her lips and teeth to wrestle with hers, but hers didn't but up much of a fight. The brain controlling it was a hazy mess, after all. This went on for what seemed like a torturing eternity to Cassey, who began to shiver with anticipation.  
There was this one part of her brain that was scolding her for acting like a whore and begging to be fucked like that, but that part was so far off and out of reach, that Cassey didn't even bother to make sense of the words.  
Then, while he kept the tongues wrestling, he entered. Cassey wondered when exactly had put a condom on. Had he even put one on? But after another thrust all thoughts were reduced to a mushy paste.  
All she could do was moan and feel. No thinking. No thinking at all. He grabbed one of her breasts and started kneading and sucking on it. Then he started pinching the nipple, until it seemed disproportionally big, and continued the same process on the other breast.  
Cassey wanted to encourage him to go faster and harder, she needed this so badly, but talking was out of question. She just couldn't get a hold of the words.  
Moans were all that passed her lips. And Xanxus' tongue, but that was getting in, not out.  
As they went on, Xanxus picked up a faster and harder rhythm. She loved it. It felt too good after such a long time.  
On and on they went and Cassey could feel this certain warm tightness building in her nether regions. She knew exactly where this was headed and so did Xanxus. Judging from the smirk she could see through glazed eyes, he was counting on it.  
A couple more hard thrusts and she was on the edge, breathing was no longer possible or at least the oxygen didn't seem to make it through.  
"Ah…Xan..nhhhh….xus…"  
He grinned, covered her mouth with his and, though some well-applied hard thrusts, pushed her over the edge.  
There were no stars dancing in her vision, no fireworks going off in the distance, just deep satisfaction, a slightly blurry vision and a very hazy brain.  
Xanxus finished shortly thereafter, grinning like an idiot. He untied her hands and collapsed next to her, still grinning like a fucking idiot.  
"You paid.", panted the Italian and pulled her a little closer.  
"You should probably get the condom off your dick. I'm definitely not cuddling with a latex ballon.", Cassey grinned up at him.  
Xanxus kissed her once more and, grinning sheepishly, answered: "I didn't wear one."  
"Come again?"  
"I wasn't wearing one. Much nicer without one."  
She bashed a fist against his chest.  
"You asshole! How. Could. You. NOT. Wear. A. Condom?!" Each word was followed by a hit on the chest. She hoped it would bruise. Badly.  
"You take the pill, so why do you worry? I don't have AIDS."  
"I am NOT taking the pill. Never really have either, jackass!"  
"What the-? Why didn't you tell me?"  
"I TOLD you! More than once even!"  
"FUCK! What do we do now?"  
"I don't fucking know! Shit bricks and wait for my next period to deliver us?"  
"This is bad."  
"Yes, it is. What do we learn?"  
"Wear a fucking condom. Two if you want to be on the fucking safe side.", Xanxus stared at the ceiling in concern.  
"Don't worry. It'll work out, idiot.", Cassey nestled against him. It would all work out, wouldn't it? No deity would be so mean as to make them have a baby. That would be cruel and prenatal child abuse.  
"I hope you're fucking right, Cassey." He slung an arm around her shoulder and planted a kiss on top of her head, "Let's get some sleep and think about this fucking mess in the morning."  
"Sounds good."  
They fell asleep almost instantly. Sex was, after all, the best alternative to sleeping pills. 

* * *

_I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did the process of writing this chapter.  
Chapter 21 and 22 are currently waiting for my beta, while chapter 23 is being worked on :)_

Quick translations:

_"Bist du völlig behindert?" - "Are you completely retarded?"  
"Lass mich los, ey!" - "Oi, let me go!"  
"SCHEISSE!" - "SHIT!" [I believe it's one of the few German words most people know :D]_

Have a nice day and leave me some comments! 


	21. Not a chapter IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!

Hello everyone,

this story just turned 3 on June 27th.

A lot has happened since then.  
20 chapters have been published, since I am such a slow writer and school kept getting in the way of things.

For me personally things have changed too.  
Especially over the course of the last year.

Warning! Who wants to know nothing about me as a person should just skip the next few things and scroll down to the bottom for the announcement.

So, I graduated from...high school (let's just not explain the German system.) in June. This could, of course, mean that I have more time to write.  
Yes, I have more time and I will write as much as possible.

But I also have other things to do. I need to decide on what to study at university and where I want to study.  
The choice of university is not the biggest thing for me right now though.

On September 1st I will leave for China, where I'll work as a volunteer / assistant English teacher with a project in the Yunan province.

As you can probably imagine, it won't be easy to update and write there. Writing will probably be easier than uploading.

So I decided to do something that pains me a lot:

**At the end of August 2013 "An Assassin's Story" will come to an end!**

It was a hard decision. Feels a bit like loosing an old friend.

Like I said before, I'll keep uploading until then. I'll also try to bring the story to an end. I can't promise anything though. It might end with you left hanging there.

There will be a long good-bye chapter once I'm through with everything. I just thought I should let you guys know before that. So you can brace yourselves for what's coming soon.

Thank you for everythig up until now

Same-tan


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